Power Systems

Power stations, transmission lines, terminal stations, transformers, substations, and all of rest of electrical engineering, from Victoria and further afield.

Forgotten manhole covers of Melbourne

Next time you take a walk around the streets of Melbourne CBD, take a look down at the manhole covers beneath your feet: there is a world of defunct names to explore.

Hydraulic Service Power Department manhole cover

Former GMH powerhouse in Port Melbourne

Welcome to Lorimer Street in Port Melbourne. Located in a suburb better known for expensive waterfront property, it is often forgotten that this area is full of industrial plants belonging to the likes of Boeing, the DSTO, Herald and Weekly Times, Kraft, and GM Holden. The last company is the topic for today.

Abandoned on Lorimer Street

Yallourn Power Station: then and now

Another week, another “then and now” blog post from me. Following on from last week’s look at the power stations of the Latrobe Valley, here is a comparison of the facilities at Yallourn.

Workers leaving the Yallourn Power Station in the 1940s

Brown coal behemoths: Victoria’s power stations

With Australia’s new carbon tax laws having been passed by the Senate last week, it is the perfect time to look at Victoria’s three major coal fired power stations. Located in the Latrobe Valley atop massive deposits of brown coal, together these power stations run 24 hours a day to supply the majority of Victoria’s baseload electricity demand, and in the process contribute more than their fair share of emissions in the environment. So why are they so dirty?

Overview of Loy Yang power station and and open cut mine

Coming second: Victoria’s first wind farm

In the decade since 2001 wind farms have appeared around Victoria, driven by state government mandated renewable energy targets and subsidies. The young age of Victoria’s wind farms makes the state look like a laggard in the renewable energy states, especially when you discover Australia’s first wind farm opened at Esperance in Western Australia all the way back in March 1987. However, Victoria does have a link to that trailblazing wind farm at Salmon Beach, and it is found at the small coastal township of Breamlea: midway between Barwon Heads and Torquay, just south of Geelong.

Solo wind turbine at Breamlea, Victoria