hazchem...
Staying with friends in Mt Beauty is always something I look forward to; they've been thinking about moving to a place in Canada just a few kilometres from a ski resort, so if that goes ahead I'm just going to have to force myself to go and visit ;)
Along with the usual chatting and catching up they took me up to Bogong Village for a look at the new hydro plant that's currently under construction. Along the way we stopped by one of the existing plants (above and below).
The new hydro power plant is the largest to be constructed in Australia in 25 years, with a peak capacity of 140 megawatts and at a cost of $230 million.
In addition to being a "zero emissions" generator, to minimise its environmental impact the plant will be fed via a 6.5 kilometre long underground tunnel which is currently being bored into the mountain. The entrance of the tunnel is visible on the right side of the photo above and I should point out that the wide angle of the shot makes everything appear much smaller than it really is. Note the giant earth moving truck that looks Tonka-sized on the left side. The power plant should come online by October 2009.