The Kiewa Hydroelectric Scheme is the largest
hydro-electric scheme in the
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
n
state
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
**Nation state, a ...
of
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India
* Victoria (state), a state of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital
* Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
and the second-largest in mainland
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
after the
Snowy Mountains Scheme
The Snowy Mountains Scheme, also known as the Snowy Hydro or the Snowy scheme, is a hydroelectricity and irrigation in Australia, irrigation complex in south-east Australia. Near the border of New South Wales and Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...
. The scheme is situated in the
Australian Alps
The Australian Alps are a mountain range in southeast Australia. The range comprises an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion, in north-eastern Victoria about from
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
and is wholly owned by
AGL Energy
AGL Energy Ltd is an Australian listed public company involved in both the generation and retailing of electricity and gas for residential and commercial use. It is one of the "big three" retailers in the National Electricity Market. AGL is ...
. In 2024, AGL studied the options of expanding the scheme with
pumped-storage hydroelectricity
Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing (electrical power), load balancing.
A PSH system stores energy i ...
.
The scheme was originally constructed between 1938 and 1961 by the
State Electricity Commission of Victoria
The State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SEC, SECV or ECV) is a government-owned electricity company in Victoria, Australia. Originally established to generate electricity from the state's reserves of brown coal, the SEC gradually monopoli ...
although it was privatised in the 1990s. The scheme was originally developed solely for
electricity generation
Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For electric utility, utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its Electricity delivery, delivery (Electric power transm ...
, unlike the Snowy Mountains Scheme, which was also intended to direct water west of the
Snowy Mountains
The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", is an IBRA subregion in southern New South Wales, Australia, and is the tallest mountain range in mainland Australia, being part of the continent's Great Dividing Range, a cordillera syste ...
for purposes of irrigation.
History
Inception
Hydroelectric power generation in the
Mount Bogong
Mount Bogong, located in the Alpine National Park and part of the Victorian Alps of the Great Dividing Range, is the highest mountain in Victoria, Australia, at above sea level.
The Big River separates the massif of the mountain from t ...
–
Feathertop–
Hotham area was first proposed by a private company known as the Victorian Hydro-Electric Company (VHEC), established in 1911. The
Kiewa River
Kiewa River, a perennial river that is part of the Murray catchment within the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the Alpine bioregion, in the Australian state of Victoria.
The Kiewa River is also known by several variations on its name in ...
was the most desirable location for power generation.
In 1918 the Electricity Commissioners (later the
State Electricity Commission of Victoria
The State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SEC, SECV or ECV) is a government-owned electricity company in Victoria, Australia. Originally established to generate electricity from the state's reserves of brown coal, the SEC gradually monopoli ...
) was formed, and given a brief to investigate an alternate power-generation scheme to the burning of
brown coal
Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, Combustion, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered ...
from the
Latrobe Valley
The Latrobe Valley is an inland geographical district and urban area of the Gippsland region in the state of Victoria, Australia. The traditional owners are the Brayakaulung of the Gunai nation. The district lies east of Melbourne and nestle ...
. In 1919 the Commissioners opposed the VHEC being allowed to generate power in the Upper Kiewa, but a Victorian Government found that the Kiewa scheme would produce 30 megawatts of power at a capital cost of $8 million.
While the
hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
was cheaper than burning brown coal, and would provide more energy than
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
then required, it was at a capital cost twice as much.
The SECV was formed on 10 January 1921, and allocated $2.86 million for power generation works at
Yallourn
Yallourn, Victoria was a company town in Victoria, Australia built between 1921 and 1961 to house employees of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SECV), who operated the nearby Yallourn Power Station complex. However, expansion of th ...
. The SECV bought out the VHEC soon after, and in 1923 a series of technical investigations was undertaken into characteristics of rain and snowfall in the
Australian Alps
The Australian Alps are a mountain range in southeast Australia. The range comprises an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion, . It was found that local snow was more dense and soggier than that in Europe, and formed weighty blocks, but no further works were carried out by the SECV.
Work begins
It was not until 1937 that the SECV recommended the Kiewa scheme proceed.
The proposed works dwarfed those from 20 years earlier, with two large dams blocking saucer-shaped basins—Pretty Valley and Rocky Valley. The proposed generation capacity was 114.6 megawatts at peak load, with a 50% utilisation factor to cater for peak demand, rather than continuous load like the earlier plans.
The scheme was approved, and a township at
Bogong was established as the base camp for construction. Building materials for the scheme had been using the railway line via Everton Gap to
Bright
Bright may refer to:
Common meanings
*Bright, an adjective meaning giving off or reflecting illumination; see Brightness
*Bright, an adjective meaning someone with intelligence
People
* Bright (surname)
* Bright (given name)
*Bright, the stage na ...
, then by road via Tawonga Gap.
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
intervened, and drained men and materials from the scheme, and by 1940 there was little chance of the scheme operating by the planned date of winter 1942.
Work was 12 months behind, and work was changed to focus on Clover Power Station (Number 3), work on the rest of the scheme being stopped in February 1942.
It was not until 1943 that the associated Junction Dam was completed, the power station not producing power until 1944.
By 1945 only a small part of the scheme was complete, and power demand had risen during war. The SECV re-examined the scheme from 1947, and in 1948 an augmented program of work was approved.
The size of the main reservoirs was expanded, and the catchment area was increased though the use of open aqueducts. Generation capacity was also increased, with a maximum output of 289 megawatts, double that of the 1937 scheme. The cost was to be $50.4 million
(or 25.27 million pounds), and the generators would be located in a series of underground power stations, the first such installations in Australia.
The town of Bogong was too restricted as a base camp, and the town of
Mount Beauty
Mount Beauty is a town in north-eastern Victoria, Australia. The town lies alongside the Kiewa River, at the junction of the Kiewa Valley Highway and Bogong High Plains Road in the Alpine Shire local government area.
History
The town was origi ...
was established at the foot of the mountains. The railhead for materials was moved to
Bandiana
Bandiana is a Suburb of the City of Wodonga local government area in northeast Victoria, Australia.
History
Bandiana takes its name from the early name for the area, probably from a First Nations toponym.
The hill now known as Bears Hill appea ...
, and the
Kiewa Valley Highway
Kiewa Valley Highway is a rural highway which traverses the Kiewa Valley near the alpine regions of Victoria, Australia, connecting the eastern Wodonga suburb of Bandiana to Mount Beauty, at the foot of Mount Bogong in the Alpine National Pa ...
was sealed and realigned for to Mount Beauty.
With fears of a new world war and a huge demand for electric power, by June 1951 works had reached full momentum, and the anticipated commissioning date of 1956 was considered achievable.
Four thousand men were employed on the project, and works on went ahead with as much haste as funds could muster.
Some in the SECV believed an equivalent quantity of power could be generated more cheaply from other sources, but abandonment was impossible in light of the need for additional capacity quickly.
Scaled back
In 1952 a recession hit the Australian economy, with funds to the SECV from the Commonwealth Government were cut back, as was loan funding on the private market. The Victorian State Government provided its own funds to keep the scheme alive,
but 1,500 men were still sacked on 27 September 1951,
which slowed work to a snail's pace.
As the recession continued, then
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Robert Menzies
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...
was forced to cut spending on capital works. The
Snowy Mountains Scheme
The Snowy Mountains Scheme, also known as the Snowy Hydro or the Snowy scheme, is a hydroelectricity and irrigation in Australia, irrigation complex in south-east Australia. Near the border of New South Wales and Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...
, commenced in 1949 by the Commonwealth Government, was a source of national prestige and political advantage, and so the cuts were made to state government projects.
Commonwealth loan funds were cut off to the Kiewa Scheme, and power from the Snowy Mountains Scheme would be provided to Victoria to fill the gap. Employment on Kiewa dwindled to one thousand men.
The Scheme was scaled back, with the major reservoir at Pretty Valley reduced to a minor diversion weir, and Number 5 Power Station in the West Kiewa Valley was abandoned.
By 1955 the
West Kiewa Power Station (Number 4) commenced operation, in 1959 the
Rocky Valley Dam
The Rocky Valley Dam is located on the Bogong High Plains, near Falls Creek, Victoria, Australia, a winter ski resort. The dam is man-made and has a capacity of and is situated at above sea level. The Dam wall is traversable during both Winter ...
was almost complete, and in 1960 the McKay Creek Power Station (Number 1) was commissioned, completing the scheme with 184 megawatts of generation capacity.
In 1957, the SECV publicly announced that the scheme should not be completed as originally proposed,
and did not move to expand it for a decade afterwards,
but still privately maintained that the scheme has never been finished.
Privatisation
With the privatisation of the
State Electricity Commission of Victoria
The State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SEC, SECV or ECV) is a government-owned electricity company in Victoria, Australia. Originally established to generate electricity from the state's reserves of brown coal, the SEC gradually monopoli ...
in the 1990s, the scheme passed to
Southern Hydro, then acquired by
AGL Energy
AGL Energy Ltd is an Australian listed public company involved in both the generation and retailing of electricity and gas for residential and commercial use. It is one of the "big three" retailers in the National Electricity Market. AGL is ...
in 2005.
[International Water Power and Dam Construction: AGL links Kiewa gap – 10 January 2008](_blank)
AGL constructed the originally planned Bogong Power Station (Number 2), which was completed in November 2009 at a cost of $240 million. The work consisted of 5.7 km of a five-metre-diameter headrace tunnel, two vertical shafts, a 1 km steel-lined high-pressure tunnel, a power station to house twin 70 MW generators and a tailrace outfall into neighbouring Lake Guy.
Australasian Tunnelling Society – Bogong Hydro Power Project
The original Number 2 power station was to involve a dam below McKay Creek power station, and a surface power station of 95 MW capacity. However, due to environmental concerns the design was altered so that the McKay discharge would feed into the Bogong tunnel, leaving the river between them to run naturally.
The West Kiewa Power station is also being upgraded to a capacity of 74 MW.
Components
The main reservoir of the scheme is the Rocky Valley Dam
The Rocky Valley Dam is located on the Bogong High Plains, near Falls Creek, Victoria, Australia, a winter ski resort. The dam is man-made and has a capacity of and is situated at above sea level. The Dam wall is traversable during both Winter ...
, which has a capacity of 28 billion litres and is situated at 1,600 metres above sea level. The scheme also contains a number of smaller dams and pondage
Pondage usually refers to the comparably small water storage behind the weir of a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power plant. Such a power plant has considerably less storage than the reservoirs of large dams and conventional hydroelectric station ...
s. A great deal of the water in the dams comes from melting snow, which covers much of the area during cooler months.
Linking the reservoirs and power station are of tunnels, and 32 km of aqueducts.[AGL – Kiewa Hydroelectric Scheme](_blank)
/ref> The scheme consists of four power stations:
Gallery
Image:Kiewa power station 3 diagram.jpg, Internal diagram of Clover Power Station (Number 3)
Image:Kiewa power station 3 generator floor 13000kw.jpg, 13,000 kW generators
Image:Kiewa power station 3 turbine floor 16000hp.jpg, 16,000 HP turbines
References
External links
AGL – Kiewa Hydroelectric Scheme
{{coord, 36, 48, 22, S, 147, 13, 38, E, region:AU-VIC_type:landmark, display=title
Geography of Victoria (state)
Energy in Victoria (state)