Moorina Power Station

The Frome Dam is a concrete-faced rockfill embankment dam across the Frome River, located near the hamlet of Moorina in far north-eastern Tasmania, Australia. Completed in 1908, the resultant reservoir was established for the purpose of generating hydro-electric power via the Moorina Power Station, a subsequently decommissioned conventional hydroelectric power station. At the time of its closure in 2008, Moorina Power Station was the oldest operating electricity generator in Australia. The former power station and associated equipment are listed on the Tasmanian Heritage Register.

The concrete-faced rockfill dam was the first of its kind in Australia. It was built in 1908 to supply water for a power station for the Pioneer Tin Mining Co. In addition, the dam supplied the village of Pioneer with potable water, was also used for mining operations, and, since 2009, has assisted with irrigation downriver of the dam. The dam wall is 18 metres (59 ft) high and 197 metres (646 ft) long, following alterations carried out in 1911. When full, the small reservoir has capacity of 1,820 megalitres (1,480 acre⋅ft) and covers 90 hectares (220 acres), drawn from a catchment area of 17 square kilometres (6.6 sq mi). The uncontrolled spillway has a flow capacity of 80 cubic metres per second (2,800 cu ft/s). Since its establishment, ownership of the dam and its associated assets have included the Pioneer Tin Mining Co. (1908–1988), Moorina Hydro Pty Ltd (1988–2009), and, since 2009, Tasmanian Irrigation Pty. Ltd. In 2011, it was reported that Tasmanian Irrigation were constructing a 10-kilometre (6.2 mi) pipeline from the Frome Dam to the northern branch of the existing irrigation scheme near Winnaleah, to increase the supply of water from the scheme; that was operational by May 2025.

Power station data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).