Power stations are cool
Sep. 1st, 2014 06:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xenithHydro Tasmania as one hundred years old, and as part of their celebrations, they're having open days at some of their stations. Trevallyn was open yesterday, so I went down for a look.
Trevallyn Power Station was constructed in 1955. It's on the border between the suburbs of Trevallyn and Riverside, a bit under 5 km from the CBD. (Why lanscape mode needs to include blurring on the edges of the photos, I have no idea, but it is annoying.)
This is the Exciter floor. The two generators at the back are originals. The fore two have been replaced and I think recently refurbished. Just the front one was operating at the time.
The platform at the back is where they're constructed. Then they are lifted into place by the crane which you can see in the previous photo.
From the platform end.
There was some discussion about the technical aspects of hydro power generation but I missed it. But basically, you create electricity by turning a magnet inside a loop of wire so most forms of electricity generation involve finding a way to turn the magnet. Obviously with hydro power, the moving water does the turning and thus electricity is generated. (Like many modern developments, electricity generation of some form doesn't actually require any "fancy" technology. It could be done by characters travelling back into the past if they had some basic knowledge, and a big magnet. (And how do you create a magnet? Well, you get electricity...)
This is the alien spacecraft that was operating during our visit.
The former control room.
Some of these controls, vague wave of hand, are still used but mostly they're just kept for show and the controls are handled from Hobart.
View out of the window of the tail race.
The schematic actually shows a generator at Poatina. There are some slight technical differences but the principles are the same, with exciter on the top and the turbine at the bottom where the water enters (pink bits). Eighty per cent of the cost of constructing a hydro-power station is in the construction of the dam and the tunnel and related bits.
The Alternator Floor which is not that interesting because everything is on the other side of walls.
The Turbine Floor is the lowest level. If it was to flood, due to a pipe breaking or something, it'd take about 0.5 to 2 minutes to fill with water.
That's where the water comes in (the black bit on the right).
That's the turbiney bit for the generator that was operating.
Prompted by a question, the guide says the Snowy River scheme has the capacity to generate more electricity than the Hydro but they don't. He also reckons that taking into account all the power stations and the wind farms, the Hydro is the single biggest electricity producer in the country.
Power generating machinery as art.
That's the turbine for one of the older generators, which is due to replaced at a cost of about $15 million or more.
To finish off, some big tools.
OK the tail race to finish off, where the run off from the power station goes. A popular recreational area (boating, fishing and an adjoining park).
Trevallyn Power Station was constructed in 1955. It's on the border between the suburbs of Trevallyn and Riverside, a bit under 5 km from the CBD. (Why lanscape mode needs to include blurring on the edges of the photos, I have no idea, but it is annoying.)
This is the Exciter floor. The two generators at the back are originals. The fore two have been replaced and I think recently refurbished. Just the front one was operating at the time.
The platform at the back is where they're constructed. Then they are lifted into place by the crane which you can see in the previous photo.
From the platform end.
There was some discussion about the technical aspects of hydro power generation but I missed it. But basically, you create electricity by turning a magnet inside a loop of wire so most forms of electricity generation involve finding a way to turn the magnet. Obviously with hydro power, the moving water does the turning and thus electricity is generated. (Like many modern developments, electricity generation of some form doesn't actually require any "fancy" technology. It could be done by characters travelling back into the past if they had some basic knowledge, and a big magnet. (And how do you create a magnet? Well, you get electricity...)
This is the alien spacecraft that was operating during our visit.
The former control room.
Some of these controls, vague wave of hand, are still used but mostly they're just kept for show and the controls are handled from Hobart.
View out of the window of the tail race.
The schematic actually shows a generator at Poatina. There are some slight technical differences but the principles are the same, with exciter on the top and the turbine at the bottom where the water enters (pink bits). Eighty per cent of the cost of constructing a hydro-power station is in the construction of the dam and the tunnel and related bits.
The Alternator Floor which is not that interesting because everything is on the other side of walls.
The Turbine Floor is the lowest level. If it was to flood, due to a pipe breaking or something, it'd take about 0.5 to 2 minutes to fill with water.
That's where the water comes in (the black bit on the right).
That's the turbiney bit for the generator that was operating.
Prompted by a question, the guide says the Snowy River scheme has the capacity to generate more electricity than the Hydro but they don't. He also reckons that taking into account all the power stations and the wind farms, the Hydro is the single biggest electricity producer in the country.
Power generating machinery as art.
That's the turbine for one of the older generators, which is due to replaced at a cost of about $15 million or more.
To finish off, some big tools.
OK the tail race to finish off, where the run off from the power station goes. A popular recreational area (boating, fishing and an adjoining park).
