Repulse Power Station


The Repulse Power Station is a conventional hydroelectric power station located in the Central Highlands region of Tasmania, Australia. The power station is situated on the Lower River Derwent catchment and is owned and operated by Hydro Tasmania.

Technical details

Part of the Derwent scheme that comprises eleven hydroelectric power stations, the Repulse Power Station is the eighth power station in the scheme. The power station is located aboveground below Lake Repulse, a small storage created by the concrete arched Repulse Dam on the Derwent River. The facilities at the Repulse Power Station are simple and include the dam, intake structure with intake gate designed to cut off full flow, a short penstock which is integral with the dam, power station building, generator equipment and associated facilities.
Approved by the Tasmanian Parliament in 1961, the power station was commissioned in 1967 by the Hydro Electric Corporation. The station has a single Boving Kaplan-type turbine with a generating capacity of of electricity. Within the station building, the turbine has a five-bladed runner and concrete spiral casing. Pre-stressed cables passing through the stay vanes anchor the spiral casing and form part of the station foundation. No inlet valve is installed in the station. The station output, estimated to be annually, is fed to TasNetworks' transmission grid via two 11 kV/220 kV Siemens generator transformers to the outdoor switchyard.
Water discharged from the Repulse Power Station flows into the River Derwent.