Hydro-Electricity
Sugarloaf powered by renewable energy
After being lifted by pumps at Yea, the power of the water flowing over the Great Dividing Range is harnessed by a hydro-electricity plant at the Sugarloaf Reservoir.
The hydro plant has been built on the northern side of the reservoir near where water comes out of the Goulburn-Sugarloaf Pipeline. This plant will recover an estimated 40% of the energy required to power the two pumping stations which are needed to move water from the Goulburn River across steep terrain to Melbourne.
The electricity purchased for the two pumping stations will be from renewable sources, meaning Sugarloaf Pipeline operations will have a zero net impact on greenhouse gas emissions.
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Hydro-electricity plants
We have constructed nine hydro electricity plants in our water supply system including Sugarloaf, and one each at Cardinia and Thomson Reservoirs.
Six of these are mini hydro plants, operating at other reservoirs in Melbourne - Silvan, Preston, Notting Hill, Olinda, Mt View, and at Upper Yarra Dam.
The hydro plants use the energy from the movement of water around our system to generate power that can be fed back into the electricity grid. The nine plants will create up to 51,000 megawatt hours per year of electricity, which is about one-sixth of Melbourne Water’s energy needs.
The hydros can generate enough renewable electricity to offset the equivalent of more than 62,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year, which is equivalent to taking about 15,000 cars off the road.