The Spill

Nearly a century after its construction, Tarraleah Estate will again be a bustling worker’s village. In May, we announced our purchase of the site to support our future workforce in Tasmania’s central highlands.  

The energy industry is buzzing with change, with non-renewable energy sources (like coal and gas) on route to close over the next two decades. The stability of Tasmanian hydropower, powering Tasmania for over 100 years, will be enhanced to prepare for this change. 

With Tarraleah being one of our oldest and largest power stations, it forms part of our ‘Battery of the Nation’ vision.

As Hydro Tasmania CEO Ian Brooksbank says, “helping us get more energy from the same amount of water”.  

Works are already underway to renew the civil infrastructure within the Tarraleah scheme. A range of assessments are ongoing to determine how the rest of the scheme can be redeveloped to improve its flexibility – a valuable requirement for our future energy needs, when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining. Learn more about how we’re reimagining Tarraleah by clicking here.  

Construction of the iconic Tarraleah scheme began in 1934. The road to Tarraleah began as a pack horse track, used to move food and supplies through the region. Seen as an unemployment relief project by the State, construction begun before any suitable accommodation was planned.

Tented camps were erected, with no permanent huts built until over a year later. By 1935, over one thousand employees were living and working in Tarraleah.  

Wartime made materials difficult to source. By 1941, the permanent village consisted of 12 houses for the employees of the Power Branch, the retail store, post office and the Chalet. Further homes were eventually built, and through the 1950s saw the construction of a hall, library, billiard room, swimming pool, rifle range, and a golf course. Thirty years later, Tarraleah homed around 650 people.  

The Tarraleah Chalet  

The Tarraleah scheme is made up of Tarraleah power station, commissioned between 1938 and 1951, and an enormous suite of civil infrastructure – this includes tunnels, canals, and the iconic penstocks.

This infrastructure feeds water from Lake King William to the six turbines at Tarraleah, once it has already passed through Butlers Gordon Station first. Today, these stations form the Derwent hydropower scheme, which includes ten hydropower stations and one mini-hydro, with the final journey of this water releasing into the Derwent River – talk about renewable!  

The Tarraleah Penstocks. See this view for yourself at the Penstocks Lookout, which sits inside the boundaries of Tarraleah Estate.  

Tarraleah Village will become a bustling workers’ village, housing our employees and contractors working – once again – on the iconic Tarraleah scheme. The 97-hectare village has undergone significant renovations in recent years while under private ownership. It can accommodate up to 100 people, and adjacent land for establishing new facilities and storage for the employees.  

For the meantime, Tarraleah Estate will continue to offer accommodation facilities to the travelling public! Management has been passed over to our Remote Accommodation team, who do an amazing job with similar ventures like Pedder Wilderness Lodge in the state’s South-West, and the accommodation and restaurant at Wayatinah, not far from Tarraleah.  We are excited to understand how we can continue to share Tarraleah with Tasmanians and travellers alike 

Read more about life during the construction of Tarraleah, with frosty November mornings and kitchen cats, in Ticklebelly Tales and other stories from the people of the Hydro by Heather Felton.