The Splityard Creek Dam is a rock and earth-fill embankment dam across the Pryde Creek in the South East region of Queensland, Australia. The sole purpose of the dam is for the generation of hydroelectricity. The impounded reservoir is called the Splityard Creek Reservoir.
Location and features The dam is located northwest of in the Somerset Region and forms the upper reservoir for the Wivenhoe Power Station.
Construction commenced in 1977 and was completed in 1980 by contractors Thiess Brothers and John Holland. The rock and earthfill dam structure is high and long. The resultant reservoir has a capacity of when full that covers a surface area of , and is drawn from a catchment area of . The uncontrolled un-gated spillway has a discharge capacity of . The asset was transferred to CleanCo Queensland in October 2019.
Power station
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.
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 internal diameter. Each of the silos houses a turbine generator and pump set, giving a total capacity of .
Recreation Public access including swimming is banned from the dam due to strong currents and submerged hazards.
See also
List of dams in Queensland Wivenhoe Dam Wivenhoe Power Station
References
External links