Burrinjuck Dam
Burrinjuck Dam is a heritage-listed major gated concrete-walled gravity hydro-electric dam at Burrinjuck, Yass Valley Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It has three spillways across the Murrumbidgee River located in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia. The dam's purpose includes flood mitigation, hydro-power, irrigation, water supply and conservation. The impounded reservoir is called Lake Burrinjuck. It was designed by Lawrence Augustus Burton Wade (of the New South Wales Public Works Department) and built from 1907 to 1927 by Lane & Peters, Sydney. It is also known as Barren Jack Dam and Barrenjack. The property was owned by Department of Planning and Infrastructure (State Government). It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
| Burrinjuck Dam | |
|---|---|
Aerial view of Burrinjuck Dam, 2017 | |
Location of the Burrinjuck Dam in New South Wales | |
| Country | Australia |
| Location | Burrinjuck, South West Slopes, New South Wales |
| Coordinates | 34°59′54″S 148°35′04″E |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | 1907 |
| Opening date | 1928 |
| Owner(s) | WaterNSW |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Gravity dam |
| Impounds | Murrumbidgee River |
| Height | 93 m (305 ft) |
| Length | 233 m (764 ft) |
| Dam volume | 394,000 m3 (13,900,000 cu ft) |
| Spillways | 3 |
| Spillway type | Three sector gates with two side channel spillways |
| Spillway capacity | 29,100 m3/s (1,030,000 cu ft/s) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Lake Burrinjuck |
| Total capacity | 1,026 gigalitres (3.62×1010 cu ft) |
| Catchment area | 12,953 km2 (5,001 sq mi) |
| Surface area | 5,500 ha (14,000 acres) |
| Maximum water depth | 72 m (236 ft) |
| Power Station | |
| Operator(s) | Foresight Group |
| Commission date | 1928 |
| Turbines | 3 (2x6, 1x16) |
| Installed capacity | 28 MW |
| Annual generation | 24.5 gigawatt-hours (88 TJ) |
| Website Burrinjuck Dam at WaterNSW | |
In March 2018 Meridian Energy Australia purchased GSP Energy Pty Ltd which included the Hume, Burrinjuck and Keepit Power Stations. These were previously Green State Power Hydro Assets. In October 2019 Meridian announced a proposal to increase station capacity by 50 megawatts.
Commenced in 1907, completed in 1928, and upgraded in 1957 and 1994, the Burrinjuck Dam is a major gated dam, located approximately 60 kilometres (37 mi) south-west of Yass. The dam was built by the New South Wales Water, Conservation & Irrigation Commission and the NSW Department of Public Works for town water supplies, river flows and domestic requirements, irrigated agriculture, industry, flood mitigation and environmental flows. The Yass and Goodradigbee rivers also flow into the dam. Together with releases from Blowering Dam, on the Tumut River, Burrinjuck Dam also provides a regulated flow of water for the Coleambally and Murrumbidgee Irrigation Areas. The dam divides the upper and lower catchment of the Murrumbidgee River and is the headwater storage for the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area.