Energy Matters Forums

[Smurf1976]

If you're in Tasmania and want to have a look at some large scale renewable energy then this may be of interest.

Musselroe wind farm tour this Saturday 18th May 2013. Musselroe is a brand new 168 MW wind farm using 56 x 3 MW turbines. Musselroe is in the far NE of Tasmania, and the tour buses depart from Gladstone.

http://www.hydro.com.au/system/files/do ... eSided.pdf

And on Sunday there is the Tarraleah power station open day. Tarraleah is a real working base load hydro-electric power station in operation since 1938. It has six generating units and is still in full use despite its' age (one of the machines is currently undergoing an overhaul and will be returned to service in due course. The other 5 are running business as usual 24/7).

http://www.hydro.com.au/system/files/do ... stival.pdf

[davidg]

Musselroe wind farm tour this Saturday 18th May 2013. Musselroe is a brand new 168 MW wind farm using 56 x 3 MW turbines.

That would a sight to see, I suppose they don't let you climb one? I have the safety gear pity I'm in Vic maybe they might be doing another later on, maybe they might do special ones later on. One can only hope.

And on Sunday there is the Tarraleah power station open day. Tarraleah is a real working base load hydro-electric power station in operation since 1938. (one of the machines is currently undergoing an overhaul.

That would cool to see as well. I lived down in the Latrobe valley for 3 years,a longtime ago now (it was still owned by the SEC & LoyYang 1 had only been online for about a year). Hazelwood power station did and does I'm sure do regular turbine overhauls, typically reblade refits, they break off overtime, once they get to certain point they have to shut down the turbine and re-blade it, which meant overhaul at the same time. Did a couple of "tours" around it, with permission, I knew a couple of people that worked there.

They still do periodic Tours for the "public".

[Smurf1976]

Woolnorth Wind farm in the far north-west of Tas has routine tours run by a private company. Woolnorth itself is an agricultural property (not owned by the Hydro) with a 140 MW wind farm located there commissioned in 3 stages between 2002 and 2007. The earlier turbines are 1.75 MW, and the later ones are 3 MW. The Woolnorth tours are at a cost since it's privately run by an actual tour company.

The Hydro itself does free public tours of power stations on an ad hoc basis every now and then. They had open days at Tarraleah and Gordon power stations last year.

At a guess, they'll probably do something at Lake Margaret power station next year given that it will be 100 years old. This is a herritage listed, fully working power station in operation since 1914 (still in constant use). There has been a recent replacement of the pipeline with a new replica of the original (it's literally made of wood) and the plant still runs the original machinery inside. I'm not sure, but I'd take a guess that there will be an open day to mark 100 years of operation next year.

As for others, I've never lived nearby but I did the public tour of Hazelwood sometime around 1995. They took us around the mine and into the power station. The only thing of interest that was "off limits" was the control room, although we had a look through the windows. Interesting.

[Smurf1976]

Another few chances to have a look at real, working hydro power stations. Details as follows (note - all plants are in Tasmania).

Trevallyn Power Station Tour
Date: Sunday 31 August 2014
Time: Tours will run every 20 minutes from 10am until 12noon
Trevallyn is a 95MW power station running 4 Francis turbines commissioned in 1955. Location is suburban Launceston, about 5km from the CBD. Trevallyn primarily relies on the natural flow of the South Esk catchment, supplemented by the diversion of water from Great Lake into this catchment via Poatina power station.

Gordon Power Station Tour
Date: Sunday 21st September 2014
Time: Tours will run every 20 minutes from 11.30am until 2.30pm
Gordon is a 432MW power station running 3 Francis turbines with two commissioned in 1978 and the third in 1988. Location is remote south-west Tasmania, just past Strathgordon (about 2.5 hours drive from Hobart, road is sealed all the way). Gordon is the only power station in the Gordon catchment, with water stored in Lake Gordon and Lake Pedder.

Paloona Power Station Tour
Date: Sunday 12 October 2014
Time: Tours will run every 20 minutes from 10am until 2pm
Paloona is a 28MW power station running a single Kaplan turbine commissioned in 1972. Location is at Paloona Dam, about 20 minutes drive south of Devonport. Paloona is the lowest of 7 power stations in the Mersey-Forth catchment.

Devils Gate Power Station Tour
Date: Sunday 12 October 2014
Time: Tours will run every 20 minutes from 10am until 2pm
Devils Gate has a capacity of 63MW from a single Francis turbine commissioned in 1969. Location is at the visually specacular (especially when spilling) Devils Gate Dam, about 40 minutes drive south from Devonport. Devils Gate is the second lowest of the 7 power stations in the Mersey-Forth catchment.

Lake Margret Power Station Tour
Date: Saturday 11 & Sunday 12 October, 2014
Time: Tours will run every 30 minutes
Lake Margaret Upper power station has a capacity of 8.4MW from 7 Pelton turbines commissioned in 1914 (4 machines), 1918 (2 machines) and 1930 (1 machine). Water travels to the station via a 2.2km long wooden pipeline, recently (2009) replaced with a new pipeline built from wood as a replica of the original. Despite being literally 100 years old, Lake Margaret Upper is a fully operational, baseload power station still running the original machinery.

Also nearby is Lake Margaret Lower power station, which runs a single 3.2MW Turgo turbine commissioned in 2010. This is housed in an extension of the building which houses the original Lower power station, a single 1.6MW Francis turbine which operated 1931 - 1994 and which remains in-situ. Pipeline is wood, as was used with the original Lower power station, with a short fibreglass section where pressure is highest.

Bookings (all tours): not required, just turn up.

All tours are being run to mark the Hydro's centenary. Further details at hydro100.com.au

[Smurf1976]

More upcoming power station tours in Tasmania.

These are all real, fully operational hydro power stations supplying the main grid in Tasmania and are not normally accessible to the general public.

Tungatinah Power Station - Saturday 10th October 2015.

Paloona Power Station - Saturday 24th October 2015.

Poatina Power Station - Saturday 14th November 2015.

All tours depart every 20 minutes between 10am and 2pm on the day.

Bookings = none. Just turn up.

Cost = free.

Requirements = long sleeves and proper shoes which cover your feet (no need for steel caps, just proper shoes with closed toes). No bags, drinks or food inside. Cameras are fine - take as many photos as you like.

Note that Poatina power station is underground and that's where the tour takes you - underground. The others are above ground facilities.

Technical details:

Paloona is a small (28 MW) power station using a single Kaplan turbine and located at the base of Paloona Dam. Operating head is quite low, just 31 metres. Operation of Paloona is typically base load in Winter, peak load in Summer.

Tungatinah is a 125 MW power station (5 x 25 MW) using Francis turbines and located beside the Nive River, water being fed by penstocks with an approximate working head of 300m. Operation of Tungatinah varies, being either peak or base load depending on requirements at the time.

Poatina has a capacity of 342 MW (6 x 57 MW) using Pelton turbines, all fed via a single penstock supplied from a tunnel drawing water from Great Lake. The operating head at Poatina is incredibly high at 835 metres (that's the drop measured vertically, the actual pipe length is considerably longer). Poatina typically runs peak load during Winter and base load over Summer.

More information is here: http://www.hydro.com.au/community/power-station-tours

[paul alting]

Poatina Power Station - Saturday 14th November 2015.

That's tomorrow, bugger, I have something else organised already.
I was near there the other day, just for a drive.

I'll look to make the visits next year if they are on.
____
Paul

[Smurf1976]

I'll look to make the visits next year if they are on

Not at Poatina this year but 3 others:

2016 Hydro Tasmania power station tours.

Gordon power station (SW Tas) – 8th October

John Butters power station (near Queenstown) – 15th October

Trevallyn power station (Launceston urban area) – 22nd October

All these are real working power stations. Gordon capacity is 432 MW (3 machines), Trevallyn 95 MW (4 machines), John Butters 143 MW (1 machine).

All tours are free.

Yes you do go right inside the power stations and up close to everything, it's not simply a look from a viewing area etc. In the case of Gordon that means you're literally going underground.

Cameras and phones are fine - take as many photos as you like.

Clothing – need to wear long sleeves, long trousers and enclosed footwear (no need for steel caps etc, just normal enclosed shoes so no thongs etc). Hydro will supply ear plugs, helmets and vests.

What you can't bring – no bags, liquids of any kind or food allowed inside any power station.

Booking is required for Gordon and Trevallyn. No bookings needed for John Butters – just turn up.

Who – no problem bringing the kids. Fitness required – if you can walk up and down stairs then you'll be fine.

Anyone with medical devices, pacemakers etc, should not go at least without consulting their doctor first since strong fields inside may interfere with the operation of such devices.

As these are real working power stations and using stairs is required there is unfortunately no disabled access for those unable to use stairs.

More info and link for bookings where required is here: Power station tours | Hydro Tasmania