The Catagunya Dam is a gravity dam across the Lower River Derwent, located in the Central Highlands region of Tasmania, Australia. Completed in 1962, the resultant reservoir, Lake Catagunya, was established for the purpose of generating hydroelectricity via the adjacent Catagunya Power Station, a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station. Both the dam and the power station are owned and operated by Hydro Tasmania.
Dam overview Built by the Hydro Electric Corporation (TAS), the concrete dam wall is high and long. When full, Lake Catagunya has capacity of and covers , drawn from a catchment area of . The uncontrolled spillway has a flow capacity of .
The dam received a Historic Engineering Marker from Engineers Australia as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program.
Hydroelectric power station Part of the Derwent scheme that comprises eleven hydroelectric power stations, the Catagunya Power Station is the seventh power station in the scheme and the third power station in the lower run-of-river system. The power station is located above ground, below Lake Catagunya. Water from the Derwent from Wayatinah Power Station and spill from Wayatinah Dam flows into Lake Catagunya. Water in the lake is diverted by a flume at the dam to the radial gates. It then descends through two steel penstocks to the power station.
The power station was commissioned in 1962 by the Hydro Electric Corporation and the station has two Boving Francis-type turbines, with a combined generating capacity of of electricity. Within the station building, each turbine has a semi-embedded spiral casing, and water flow is controlled via twin radial gates installed at the entrance to each penstock and designed to cut off full flow. No inlet valves are installed in the station. The station output, estimated to be annually, is fed to TasNetworks' transmission grid via two 11 kV/220 kV ASEA generator transformers to the outdoor switchyard.
See also
List of power stations in Tasmania List of reservoirs and dams in Tasmania List of run-of-the-river hydroelectric power stations
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