Upgrade goes ahead at Wivenhoe pumped-storage, Australia

摘要

An A$ 13.5 million (US $ 10.3 million) upgrade to the Wivenhoe pumped-storage station in Queensland, Australia, is underway, it was announced by owner-operator CS Energy in early August. An overhaul of unit 1 of the 500 MW plant is being carried out by Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Crown Engineering, McElligotts Painting and Berg Engineering to ensure its continued operation at peak condition into the future. Commissioned in 1984, Wivenhoe, which is equipped with two 250 MW units, is the only pumped-storage plant in Queensland. The upper reservoir is impounded by the Splityard Creek dam; the lower reservoir, Lake Wivenhoe, was created by the damming of the river Brisbane. The Splityard Creek reservoir has a capacity of 23.3 × 10~6 m~3, which is sufficient capacity for 10 hours of continuous power generation. It takes about 14 hours of pumping to refill it.