Koombooloomba Dam

The Koombooloomba Dam is a concrete gravity dam with a controlled spillway across the Tully River, located west of Tully and south, southeast of Ravenshoe in Far North Queensland, Australia. Built for the purpose of hydroelectric power generation, the dam creates the reservoir, Lake Koombooloomba.

Koombooloomba Dam
Location of the dam wall in Queensland
Country	Australia
Location	west of Tully, Far North Queensland
Coordinates	17°49′54″S 145°36′16″E
Purpose	Hydroelectricity power generation
Status	Operational
Opening date	1960
Owner(s)	Stanwell Corporation
Dam and spillways
Type of dam	Gravity dam
Impounds	Tully River
Height	40 metres (130 ft)
Length	399 m (1,309 ft)
Dam volume	790×10^^3 m^3 (28×10^^6 cu ft)
Spillway type	Controlled
Spillway capacity	1,240 m^3/s (44,000 cu ft/s)
Reservoir
Creates	Lake Koombooloomba
Total capacity	205,000 ML (4.5×10^10 imp gal; 5.4×10^10 US gal)
Catchment area	163 km^2 (63 sq mi)
Surface area	15.5 km^2 (6.0 sq mi)
Maximum water depth	12.9 m (42 ft)
Kareeya / Koombooloomba
Commission date	1957 / 1999
Type	Conventional
Turbines	4
Installed capacity	86.4 megawatts (115,900 hp) / 7.3 megawatts (9,800 hp)
Annual generation	472 gigawatt-hours (1,700 TJ) / 22.5 gigawatt-hours (81 TJ)

Location and features

The dam was constructed by the Queensland Government Co-ordinator-General's Department in 1960. The 790-thousand-cubic-metre (28×10^⁶ cu ft) earth rock embankment dam wall is 399 metres (1,309 ft) in length and 40 metres (130 ft) high. The reservoir has a catchment area of 163 square kilometres (63 sq mi) with a controlled concrete spillway that releases up to 1,240 cubic metres per second (44,000 cu ft/s). The reservoir has a surface area of 1,550 hectares (3,800 acres) with an average depth of 12.9 metres (42 ft), and can hold up to 200,700 megalitres (4.41×10¹⁰ imp gal; 5.30×10¹⁰ US gal) of water.[1]

Hydroelectric power facilities

Built in 1957 and most recently upgraded in 2008, the underground Kareeya Hydro Power Station was the first hydroelectric power station constructed on the Tully River. An intake tower is located in the Tully Falls Weir – a regulating pond for the power station – which directs water down a tunnel to the turbines below Tully Falls. Kareeya has a capacity of 86.4 megawatts (115,900 hp) and generates up to 472 gigawatt-hours (1,700 TJ) annually.[2]

The Koombooloomba Hydro Power Station is a dam release point situated on Koombooloomba Dam. The power station was commissioned in 1999 and has one turbo generator with a capacity of 7.3 megawatts (9,800 hp) that generates up to 22.5 gigawatt-hours (81 TJ).[3] Its location on Koombooloomba Dam in the UNESCO World Heritage–listed Wet Tropics area finally put into use infrastructure established when the dam was constructed in 1960.[4]

See also

• List of dams in Queensland

References

1. "Register of Large Dams in Australia" (Excel (requires download)). Dams information. Australian National Committee on Large Dams. 2010. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
2. "Kareeya Hydro" (PDF). Our power stations: Hydro. Stanwell Corporation. March 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
3. "Koombooloomba Hydro" (PDF). Our power stations: Hydro. Stanwell Corporation. March 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
4. "Koombooloomba Hydro". Stanwell Corporation. Archived from the original on 6 February 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2010.