Construction commenced in 1977 and was completed in 1980 by contractors Thiess Brothers and John Holland.[2] The rock and earthfill dam structure is 76 metres (249 ft) high and 1,140 metres (3,740 ft) long. The 3,371-thousand-cubic-metre (119.0×10^6 cu ft) dam wall holds back the 28,600-megalitre (6,300×10^6 imp gal; 7,600×10^6 US gal) reservoir when at full capacity. From a catchment area of 3.8 square kilometres (1.5 sq mi), the dam creates a reservoir with a surface area of 102 hectares (250 acres). The uncontrolled un-gated spillway has a discharge capacity of 570 cubic metres per second (20,000 cu ft/s).[1] The asset was transferred to CleanCo Queensland in October 2019.
Owned by CleanCo Queensland and operated by CS Energy, Wivenhoe Power Station is located on the eastern side of Wivenhoe Dam, north west of Brisbane. The station, which began commercial operation in 1984, was Queensland's first pumped-storage hydro-electric plant. It is operated remotely from an operating centre used to manage the Queensland electricity grid.[3]
The dam's water capacity is enough for the power station to run at full load for approximately ten hours. Using both pumps, this water can be replaced in about 14 hours. The pumped storage power station consists of two circular concrete silos, each of about 32 metres (105 ft) internal diameter. Each of the silos houses a 250 megawatts (340,000 hp) turbine generator and pump set, giving a total capacity of 500 megawatts (670,000 hp).[3]
Recreation
Public access including swimming is banned from the dam due to strong currents and submerged hazards.
