Project Activity

AGL Energy starts work on hydro station upgrades

AGL Energy starts work on hydro station upgrades
(Melbourne may be Victoria's best known city. Credit: Flickr/Bernard Spragg)

AGL Energy Limited said it plans a five-year A$40 million ($27.84 million) investment in the 29 MW Clover hydro power station in the Australian state of Victoria.

Scope of work includes replacing turbines, generators and inlet valves to boost throughput at Clover from 120 Megalitres per hour (ML/h) to 140ML/h. The Clover power station is part of AGL’s Kiewa Hydro Scheme, and design and fabrication work on the project was expected to start in July. 

The hydro power station provides peaking power as well as backup power when other generating stations are offline.

Output capacity of the Kiewa Hydro Scheme is expected to increase by 14 MW. Clover is the oldest station in the Kiewa Scheme and was commissioned in 1945. 

A series of recent coal-fired power plant failures and high electricity prices led the Australian Energy Market Operator to call for investments in plants such as energy storage batteries and hydropower. At present, hydro accounts for about 2% of the electrical energy consumed in Victoria.

AGL Hydro was established following the breakup of the former State Electricity Commission of Victoria. It operates hydroelectric power stations in Victoria and New South Wales. AGL Hydro operates three hydroelectric projects in the Kiewa, Dartmouth and Eildon watershed regions.

The Kiewa Scheme includes the McKay Creek, Bogong, Clover, and West Kiewa power stations. They have a combined generating capacity of 395 MW and an average annual generating output of around 404 GWh.   

Kiewa’s main reservoir is the Rocky Valley Dam, which has a capacity of 22,700 acre feet and is some 5,200 feet above sea level. The scheme also contains smaller dams and pondages. Much of the water in the dams comes from snowmelt.

Linking the reservoirs and power station are 11 miles (18 km) of tunnels and 20 miles (32 km) of aqueducts.