Hydro-electricity comes to St Albans

Hydro-electricity doesn't immediately come to mind when thinking about renewable power in St Albans.  After all, the landscape sits on the flat Melton Plain and other than the slow moving Maribyrnong River there isn't much water around.  However, through an innovative program being run by Melbourne Water, St Albans will soon be the site of a hydro-electric power station.

Melbourne Water commenced a program of installing mini-hydro stations back in 2008.  These stations use the force of the gravity feed reticulation system to generate electricity.  When water is released from the catchments in the head waters of the Yarra and Thomson Rivers, it flows downhill to the storage reservoirs dotted around Melbourne.  One of these reservoirs is located off Taylors Road.  A small, modular turbine harnesses that energy, turning a generator, which in turn feeds electricity into the grid.  The hydro-electric system off Taylors Road will have a similar capacity to the solar system installed here at SASC.

So now you can feel a bit better every time you turn the tap on, knowing that your water is also providing a small amount of emissions free electricity.

Mr Craig Moore

Sustainability Coordinator