The Wilmot Dam is a concrete-faced rock-fill embankment dam across the Wilmot River, located near , in northern Tasmania, Australia. Completed in 1970, the resultant reservoir, Lake Gairdner, was established for the purpose of generation of hydroelectricity via the adjacent Wilmot Power Station, a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station.
The dam, its reservoir, and the power station are owned and operated by Hydro Tasmania.
Dam and reservoir overview The concrete-face rockfill dam wall is high and long. When full, Lake Gairdner has capacity of and covers , drawn from a catchment area of . The uncontrolled spillway has a flow capacity of .
In 2013, Hydro Tasmania reported that, downstream of the dam wall, reduced or no flows in the Wilmot River were attributed to both the damming of the river and the diversion of water into the Forth River catchment.
Hydroelectric power station The Wilmot Power Station is part of the MerseyForth hydro scheme that comprises seven run-of-river hydroelectric power stations and one mini-hydro power station. The Wilmot Power Station is the fifth station in the scheme, located above-ground on the foreshore of Lake Cethana, formed via the Cethana Dam. Water stored at Lake Gairdner is transferred east approximately to the station via a tunnel and a surface penstock. Water is then discharged from the station into Lake Cethana.
The power station was commissioned in 1971 by the Hydro Electric Corporation (TAS). It has one turbine, with a generating capacity of of electricity. The station output, estimated to be annually, is fed to TasNetworks' transmission grid via an 11 kV/220 kV Siemens generator transformer 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
References
External links