The "Drop" Run-of-River Hydroelectric Project

The site

The project is located near Berrigan in south central New South Wales on the Mulwala canal, Australia's largest irrigation channel. A control gate structure known as "The Drop" controls canal flows over a natural land fault. The power station allows water to by-pass the gates to make use of the previously unutilised energy potential.

Murray Irrigation Limited owns the Mulwala Canal and operates the irrigation system on behalf of some 2600 individual farms in the area.

Output

The power station is expected to generate approximately 11,000 MWh of pollution-free energy per annum, generating the equivalent amount of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) under the Federal Government's Mandatory Renewable Energy Target scheme.

Pacific Hydro has a 10-year agreement to sell all RECs and energy generated by the plant to NSW energy retailer Country Energy.

Connection

Under a connection agreement with Country Energy, which owns and operates the distribution network, the electricity, which is generated at 6.6 kV, is transformed to 22kV at the power station switchyard and sent into the local grid.

Environmental and community benefits

As a "run-of-river" type of hydro project, The Drop did not require the building of dams, but instead uses existing infrastructure and proven hydroelectric technology to produce environmentally friendly electricity.
Sufficient electricity is produced to provide up to 1600 homes with clean power and improved supply from embedded generation in a country area that relies on long distribution lines. Power fluctuations and line losses are reduced.

The project makes a significant contribution to the environment by avoiding around 11,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year, equivalent to removing 2500 cars from the road.

Construction of The Drop also provided considerable benefits to the local economy, including investment and job creation, with up to 30 people employed on the site.

Support

Supported by grants from the Australian Greenhouse Office and the NSW Sustainable Energy Development Authority, the successful development of this project in a short time frame resulted from the cooperation of a number of organisations, including Murray Irrigation, Country Energy, Montgomery Watson Harza and Berrigan Shire.