Construction of a new water intake on Lake King William that feeds Tarraleah hydropower station is progressing, Hydro Tasmania has announced, with the work part of a major project to boost capacity at the scheme, better support the growth of wind and solar through faster, more flexible operation and generate around 30% more energy from the same water.
Hydro Tasmania said it is now getting on with construction works at Lake King William and Mossy Marsh Dam that support a potential new scheme and station in the future.
On site at Lake King William this week to see progress first hand, Chief Executive Officer Ian Brooksbank said that it was fantastic to see work well underway for progressing the vision for Tarraleah into action.
“The network of canals that have fed water from Lake King William to the station for decades will need to be replaced in future. What is happening now are important upgrade works to construct a brand new water intake and connecting tunnel to meet up with a future new water conveyance. Improvements to the dam at Mossy Marsh are largely completed and upgrading the local access road is also underway,” he said. “There’s almost 100 full-time equivalent roles working on these upgrades across our people, our specialist consulting firm Entura and our contractors – that’s great news for the region and there’s more to come as we progress our plans.”
Tasmanian civil construction company Hazell Bros was awarded the contracts for the first tranche of upgrade works projects. These works, together with activity to assess the viability of building a brand new scheme and power station, represents a $123 million investment towards a clean energy future, with up to $65M of that committed by the Australian Government.
Hydro Tasmania has also started environmental approvals through the Federal Government, a vital part of the redevelopment assessment, allowing the public to comment on Tarraleah’s proposed future.
“Getting the views of the local community on Tarraleah’s future is important. We will continue to provide opportunities to talk directly with our team about what is ahead,” Brooksbank said.
IMAGE L-R: Hazell Bros Executive General Manager, Construction – Tasmania, Jesse Brunskill, Minister for Energy and Renewables, Guy Barnett, Entura Managing Director, Tammy Chu and Hydro Tasmania CEO, Ian Brooksbank. Courtesy Hydro Tasmania
