Hydro Tasmania completes first stage of major Poatina Power Station upgrade
A key piece of work was the first stage of recoating the inside of the 1.8km Poatina penstock and 5.6km headrace tunnel with a special protective paint to prevent corrosion of the metal pipeline.
The penstock and tunnel carry water from Yingina / Great Lake down the face of the Great Western Tiers to the power station, which is located in a massive artificial cavern 150m underground.
A robot was used to blast off the old paint before staff used giant spray-painting hoses to begin the recoating process.
The works on the Poatina penstock are being carried out in two stages to better align with irrigation seasons, with the next stage scheduled to start in April 2027.
Poatina Site Manager Julian Quinn said the outage had provided a rare opportunity to undertake an extensive package of works at Tasmania’s second-largest hydropower station.
“Poatina is one of the most important power stations in Tasmania, generating around 10 percent of the state’s total generation capacity,” Quinn said.
“During this outage we’ve completed major electrical upgrades and progressed the refurbishment of a 60-year-old generating unit. This will help ensure the station remains reliable for decades to come.”
The work is another step in progressing Hydro Tasmania’s $200m investment in upgrading all the turbines at Poatina, with one turbine upgrade already completed in early 2026.
Poatina Power Station features six Pelton turbines, each capable of generating 60 megawatts of electricity. Five of the units were commissioned in the 1960s, with the sixth added in the 1970s.
Mr Quinn said the station’s second generating unit would continue to be refurbished while the station was back in service and is expected to be completed in early 2027.
“The original electrical control systems were around 60 years old, so we’ve replaced those with modern technology that is better suited to the needs of today’s electricity system,” Quinn said.
“We’ve also replaced key turbine components, including the Pelton runner and nozzles that direct water onto the turbine, and carried out significant maintenance work to prepare the machine for many more years of operation.”
Quinn said the upgrade was part of Hydro Tasmania’s rolling schedule of upgrades and maintenance across its dams and power stations to prepare the system for the next century of hydropower.
“The work we’re doing now is about making sure these units continue generating renewable energy for Tasmanians well into the future,” he said.