The Murray Region Hydroelectric Power Stations refers to two of the original seven hydroelectric

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

s, both located near the town of

Khancoban Khancoban () is a small town in Snowy Valleys Council, New South Wales, Australia. The town is located from the state capital, Sydney and from the state border with Victoria, in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains, near the upper reaches of t ...

in the Snowy Mountains region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. The two power stations are part of the

Snowy Mountains Scheme The Snowy Mountains Scheme or Snowy scheme is a hydroelectricity and irrigation complex in south-east Australia. The Scheme consists of sixteen major dams; nine power stations; two pumping stations; and of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts that ...

, a vast hydroelectricity and

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

complex constructed in south-east Australia between 1949 and 1974 and now run by

Snowy Hydro Snowy Hydro Limited is an electricity generation and retailing company in Australia that owns, manages, and maintains the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme which consists of nine hydro-electric power stations and sixteen large dams connecte ...

. Although both power stations are physically located in New South Wales, since 1 July 2008 all power generated has been allocated to the Victorian region of the

National Electricity Market The National Electricity Market (NEM) is an arrangement in Australia's electricity sector for the connection of the electricity transmission grids of the eastern and southern Australia states and territories to create a cross-state wholesale el ...

. The stations are not located on the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...

. These two stations are connected to the National Electricity Market via the TransGrid 330KV Murray Switching Station (and the 330/132KV substation for Guthega Power Station, Jindabyne Pumping Station & Jindabyne Dam Wall Mini Hydro Power Stations), south-east of Khancoban.

Stations

Murray 1 Station

Murray 1 Power Station is located south-east of Khancoban along the

Alpine Way The Alpine Way is a rural road located in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. The road connects in the east to the New South Wales / Victorian border in the west, crossing the Murray River, near Bringenbrong / Upper ...

. The conventional gravity-fed hydroelectric power station has ten vertical UK-manufactured Francis, Boving Engineering

turbines A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful Work (physics), work. The work produced by a turbine can be used ...

, each fitted with

ASEA ''Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget'' (English translation: General Swedish Electrical Limited Company; Swedish abbreviation: ASEA) was a Swedish industrial company. History ASEA was founded in 1883 by Ludvig Fredholm in Västerås a ...

-manufactured generators, with a combined generating capacity of of

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...

. The power station was completed in 1967, and has rated head. Fed by natural inflow, supplemented by the pumped flows of the Snowy-Geehi Haupt tunnel from Island Bend Pondage, it receives water from the Geehi Reservoir on the

Geehi River The Geehi River, a perennial river of the Murray catchment of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. Course and features The Geehi River rises below Mount Jagungal, part of Strumbo R ...

and discharges into the Murray 2 Pondage. The station is capable of producing enough electricity to supply over 95,000 homes. Murray 1 will undergo a series of outages, from 2013 to 2022 inclusive, in order to complete maintenance on each turbine and generator. Murray 1 Power Station Lookout is located opposite Murray 1 Hydroelectric Power Station across Khancoban Back Creek, 8 km south-east on the Alpine Way from the Snowy Hydro Visitor Centre in association with Khancoban Visitor Centre.

Murray 2 Power Station

Murray 2 Power Station is located approximately south of Khancoban along the

. The conventional gravity-fed hydroelectric power station has four vertical Francis turbines, of Hitachi manufacturing in Japan, each coupled to ASEA generators, with a combined generating capacity of of electricity. This site was the first use of Japanese supply of large electrical and mechanical components in the Snowy Scheme. The power station was completed in 1969, and has rated head. Fed by the water discharged from Murray 1 Power Station into the Murray Two Pondage, Murray 2 Power Station discharges water into the Khancoban Pondage, and into the Swampy Plain River. Murray 2 will undergo a series of outages, during 2020 to 2022 inclusive, in order to complete maintenance on two of the turbines and generators.

Gallery

SnowyHydro-Murray-1.jpg, An exterior view of the Murray 1 Power Station.

References

{{EnergyNSW Snowy Mountains Scheme Snowy Mountains

Stations

Murray 1 Station

Murray 2 Power Station

Gallery

See also

References