McElligotts Queensland were contracted by Queensland Government-owned energy generator and retailer, CleanCo Queensland, to provide refurbishment work to Unit 1 of the Wivenhoe Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Station situated at the Wivenhoe Dam. This project was part of the $14 million overhaul to Queensland’s only pumped hydro power station which plays a critical role in providing a reliable, low-emissions energy supply for Queensland.
The importance of keeping the Wivenhoe Power Station up to standard was highlighted when an incident at the coal-fired Callide Power Station in May 2021 placed significant strain on Queensland’s energy network. During this time, the Wivenhoe Power Station increased its operations to generate up to 530MW over continuous four-hour period. This ensured a continued supply of energy to hundreds of thousands of Queensland homes and businesses.
The McElligotts team worked on Unit 1 of the Wivenhoe Power Station between July and October 2021. For this project, our team was responsible for blasting and painting the spiral casing, turbine shaft, draft tube, and slot covers of the unit. The nature of this work involved our crew having to work at heights and in confined spaces, while the logistics of the project were impacted by the border restrictions that were in place at the time due to Covid.
This is not the first time that McElligotts has provided their services to Wivenhoe Dam. In 2018, our team was engaged by CS Energy to work on the overhaul of Unit 2 at the Wivenhoe Power Station.
McElligotts would like to thank all the crew members who showed their dedication, experience, and expertise in completing this significant project. Alongside our own team, we also worked with workers from Downer group to get the job done.
