Rubicon Hydroelectric Scheme - History

History

In the 1920s the State Electricity Commission of Victoria investigated hydroelectric power generation, in parallel with work on brown coal fired power stations at Yallourn. In 1922 a report was delivered by Messrs J.M. and H.E. Coane relating to the development of hydro-electric power on the Goulburn River and the Cerberean Range, which was then in turn submitted to the Parliament of Victoria, with the project approved in 1922.

Known as the Sugarloaf - Rubicon Project, the proposed plan involved five power stations, with 25,800 horsepower (19.2 MW) of turbine capacity, the largest power station on the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission storage Sugarloaf reservoir at what is now Lake Eildon, and four others, two on the Rubicon, one on the Royston, and one on Snobs Creek. These plans were later altered, the Snobs Creek station deleted, and an additional station provided at Rubicon Falls, bringing the installed turbine capacity to over 35,000 horsepower (26 MW). The Sugarloaf Power Station was used during the irrigation season from October to April, when water released from this dam could be used for power generation. The other four stations were used during the rainy seasons of winter and spring.

Work started in 1922, and by 1928 the mountain stream section of the project was complete, the Sugarloaf power station on the Eildon following in 1929. Rubicon 'A' power station has a pipeline with a 1,455-foot (443 m) drop over its 4,280-foot (1,305 m) length. This station also remotely controlled the other power stations in the project. Minor enlargements were carried out at one station in 1954–55.

The 13.5 MW Sugarloaf Power Station on the Goulburn River was replaced by the larger Eildon Power Station, and dam at the same site in the 1950s, with the turbines upgraded and reused.