The largest hydropower development in Australia for 25 years, this wholly concealed power station was designed to have minimal impact upon the surrounding alpine landscape.
The client needed to create a large-scale, fast-start, fully discretionary power generation plant to provide energy in periods of peak demand, using an existing water source with minimal impact on the local environment. The project was also designed to bring economic, tourism, infrastructure and educational benefits to the community.
The completed power station uses water released from the existing McKay Creek Power Station and generates sufficient sustainable power for 120,000 Victorian households. It is located in an Alpine National Park near ski fields at Falls Creek and Bogong Village.
Halcrow was the design consultant to McConnell Dowell Constructors. Halcrow provided detailed designs, drawings and specifications for all the civil works for the project. These works included the reinforced concrete head pond structure, with spillway and stop logs; a concrete lined and steel lined high pressure headrace tunnel; reinforced concrete buried power station building to house twin 70MW turbines and associated electrical equipment; and the reinforced concrete buried tailrace conduit.
Halcrow’s flexible design approach allowed optimisation of the tunnel alignment and extent of steel lining based upon in-situ stress testing. The company’s expertise across a range of disciplines produced a highly functional layout for the power station building; steel penstock and bifurcation capable of resisting 450m of water pressure; and concrete lining design which allowed elimination of steel reinforcement from tunnel and shaft linings.
On completion of the project in November 2009 a visitors centre and support for the local outdoor education centre and local walking tracks had been provided; Halcrow’s value engineering had ensured the economic viability of the project; and rock spoil had been recycled by the local shire for road upgrades.
The construction of the Bogong power station provides for the generation of 94 000MWh of renewable electricity each year, with the associated abatement of over 88,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. It has had a minimal impact on a unique alpine environment.