Splityard Creek Dam, of earth and rock construction, forms the upper reservoir for a power station

Power station

A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....

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Owned and operated by CS Energy

CS Energy

CS Energy is an Australia based electricity generating company owned by the Government of Queensland with it's head office located in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane...

, Wivenhoe Power Station is located on the eastern side of Wivenhoe Dam

Wivenhoe Dam

Wivenhoe Dam is a dam across the Brisbane River a little way upstream from Locker Creek. The dam creates the artificial Lake Wivenhoe. The dam wall is located about by road from the centre of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia....

, north west of Brisbane. The station, which began commercial operation in 1984, was Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

’s first pumped storage hydro-electric plant.

The dam has a capacity of 28 700 megalitres, enough for the power station to run at full load for about 10 hours. Using both pumps, this water can be replaced in about 14 hours. The pumped storage power station consists of two circular concrete silos, each of about 32 metres internal diameter. Each of the silos houses a 250MW turbine generator and pump set, giving a total capacity of 500MW.