Cyclone Ita provides good water supply for Kareeya Power Station

14 April 2014
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Kareeya Power Station, west of Tully, will be able to supply plenty of green power for Far North Queensland and the rest of the State in coming months, thanks to heavy rainfall from Cyclone Ita.

The water level at Koombooloomba Dam, which fuels Kareeya Hydro, rose from 76 per cent to more than 92 per cent soon after Cyclone Ita passed over the Tully region last Sunday. It is 93.6 per cent today.

“Water levels in Koombooloomba Dam and Tully Falls Weir, which both supply water to Kareeya Power Station, have risen sharply thanks to Cyclone Ita,” Kareeya Acting Site Manager Steve Vale said today.

“We are running the four Kareeya Hydro generation units as hard as possible to use this water to generate green power,” Steve said.

Kareeya Hydro uses water from Koombooloomba Dam to drive turbines which produce electricity. No greenhouse gases are produced by the process, which is in keeping with Kareeya’s location in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.

Kareeya employees also have opened large valves, or regulators, at the bottom of Koobooloomba Dam wall to let excess water out of the dam, producing spectacular sprays of water.

Koombooloomba is a popular place for fishers and other water lovers but, due to the high level of the dam, boats with engines over four horsepower are prohibited on the lake for safety reasons.

This restriction will be removed once the dam level drops back below 90 per cent.

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Paul Childs
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