Tumut Hydroelectric Power Station

The Tumut Hydroelectric Power Stations is a series of three hydroelectric power stations on the Tumut River in New South Wales, Australia, that are part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme.

The generating assets of the three Tumut power stations are owned by Snowy Hydro Limited, a company whose shareholders include the governments of Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria. The company is also licensed to manage the water rights used by the power stations.

Tumut 1 Underground Power Station
Located downstream of Tumut Pond Dam and 366 m below ground level, Tumut 1 Power Station is situated approximately 2.25 km south-west from Cabramurra, under Happy Valley Rd. A Lift & Ventilation Shaft is on Happy Valley Rd. The conventional hydroelectric power station has four turbine generators, with a combined generating capacity of 330 MW of electricity; and a net generation of 847 GWh per annum. The power station was completed in 1959, and has 292.6 m rated head.

The first 330 kV transmission lines were commissioned in New South Wales at the Tumut 1 Power Station during the 1950s. These cables were manufactured in England and linked to the underground transformers at Tumut 1, and connected with the transmission line. The lines carried power to Sydney where new sub-stations were established, to handle the upgrade from 132 kV transmission lines. This innovative plan, which faced significant scepticism initially, was considered to be at the forefront of technology which challenged designers and overseas manufacturers. Extra high voltage was in its infancy in the early 1950s. The lines were subject to a 1000 kV test on the cables prior to them going into service. These cables and the transmission system have been in service for over 50 years.

The original transformer at Tumut 1 weighed 81.2 t; and each assembled generator rotor is in excess of 203 t necessitating delivery in component pieces and assembly on site.

The station is connected to the National Electricity Market via the 330kV Upper Tumut Switching Station, 2.75 km North of Cabramurra.

The Upper Tumut Works is sometimes used as a colloquial term to refer to both Tumut 1 and Tumut 2 Underground Power Stations as well as their respective dams, tunnels and the Upper Tumut Switching Station.

Tumut 2 Underground Power Station
Tumut 2 Power Station is situated approximately 5.91 km north of north-west from Cabramurra, under Goat Ridge Rd, some 244 m below ground level. The conventional hydroelectric power station has four Francis turbine generators, with a combined generating capacity of 286.4 MW and a net generation of 787 GWh per annum. The power station was completed in 1962, and has 262.1 m rated head. Water flows through the turbines at the rate of 118.9 m3/s.

The conventional gravity-fed hydroelectric power station is fed by water held in Tumut Two Pondage and from water discharged from Tumut 1 Power Station.

The station is connected to the National Electricity Market via the 330kV Upper Tumut Switching Station, 2.75 km North of Cabramurra.

Tumut 3 Power Station
Tumut 3 Power Station is the first major pumped storage hydroelectric power station in Australia. Pump-storage schemes use off-peak energy to pump water to a reservoir on a higher level. This water then passes through turbines to generate electricity when prices are higher. The sole powerhouse is located above ground, below Talbingo Dam.

The power station is fitted with six Toshiba turbines, each equipped with Melco-manufactured generators, has a combined generating capacity of 1800 MW of electricity. Three of the six units can operate as pumps. The design for the power station was managed by Peter Hughes AM. It was completed in 1973, upgraded in 2012 and has 150.9 m rated head. Water is carried in six pipelines, each 488 m long and 5.6 m in diameter, delivering water both from and to Talbingo Reservoir. The pumps draw water from Jounama Pondage at the rate of 297 m3/s, returning water to Talbingo Reservoir for later generation use in periods of peak-demand.

During 2003, Snowy Hydro commissioned six 150 kW micro-hydro generators on the existing cooling water systems on each of the six generating units at Tumut 3 Power Station. These GreenPower accredited units enable Snowy Hydro to save approximately 3137 t of carbon dioxide per annum. In addition, this installation not only captures previous wasted renewable energy, but also will be substantially reducing the noise that was associated with the previous pressure reducing valves on the six generating unit's cooling systems. Between 2009 and December 2011, there was a major upgrade of Tumut 3, adding additional capacity in the range of 25 MW to 50 MW per unit.

The station is connected to the National Electricity Market via the 330kV Lower Tumut Switching Station, 500m North West of Tumut 3 or 3.0 km south of south-west from Talbingo.