Benmore Dam

Benmore Dam

Benmore Dam is the largest dam within the Waitaki power scheme on the borders of Otago and Canterbury regions in New Zealand's South Island. There are eight other power stations in the valley.

The dam is the largest earth-filled water-retaining structure in New Zealand. Its core is impermeable clay-like gravel, supported by two massive shoulders of river gravel. Lake Benmore has a volume of 12.5 million cubic metres which is about 1.5 times as much water as Wellington harbour.

The dam's spillway can cope with 3,400 cubic metres of water per second, about 10 times the mean river flow. Construction of the dam and hydroelectric station began in 1958, with it commissioned in 1965.

With a generating capacity of 540 MW, Benmore Power Station is the second largest hydro station in New Zealand. It is owned and operated by Meridian Energy.

Benmore is also the southern end of High Voltage Direct Current 500 MW (HVDC) link which joins the North and South Island electricity systems. There are two switchyards, one for AC transmission to the South Island, and the other containing the static inverter plant for the HVDC link.

Otematata is the small town that supports the dam although now with advances in technology the man power needed to maintain the dam is drastically less. Due to this the town is now a small holiday community, with only around 200 permanent residents. The dam is about 8km up the valley from the township.

Key statistics

* Lake Benmore area: ~ 75 kilometres square
* Lake Benmore shoreline: 116 km
* Dam crest length: 823 metres
* Dam crest height: 110 metres
* Head (hydraulic): 92 metres
* Average river water flow: 340 m³/s
* Nominal annual generation: 2,200 GWh
* Installed capacity: 540 MW
* Machinery: 6 x 93,000 W vertical Francis turbines (Dominion Engineering, Canada), coupled to 6 x 90,000 W 112,50 kVA generators (Canadian General Electric); 6 transformer banks totalling 1,150,000 kVA
* Penstocks: Concrete


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Benmore — bezeichnet folgende Orte in Neuseeland: Benmore (Canterbury) Benmore (Southland) Benmore bezeichnet weiterhin in Neuseeland Lake Benmore, See in Neuseeland Benmore Dam, ein Staudamm, der diesen See aufstaut Benmore Range, ein Gebirgszug in… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Lake Benmore — Infobox lake lake name = Lake Benmore image lake = Lake Benmore.jpg caption lake = Looking south image bathymetry = caption bathymetry = location = Mackenzie, Waimate, and Waitaki Districts, Canterbury Region, South Island coords = type =… …   Wikipedia

  • Lake Benmore — Blick über den See Geographische Lage Region Canterbury, Südinsel, Neuseeland Zuflüsse …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • List of dams and reservoirs in New Zealand — Contents 1 Hydro electric dams 1.1 Tongariro Power Scheme 1.2 The Waikato …   Wikipedia

  • List of reservoirs and dams in New Zealand — Many of the reservoirs and dams in New Zealand have been developed principally to produce hydroelectricity. Hydro electric damsThe main river systems comprising a series of dams and powerhouses are situated on the following rivers:o:The Waikato… …   Wikipedia

  • Waitaki River — Flusssystem des Waitaki River DatenVorlage:Infobox Fluss/GKZ fehlt …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Otematata — …   Wikipedia

  • Electricity sector in New Zealand — The electricity sector in New Zealand uses mainly renewable energy sources such as hydropower, geothermal power and increasingly wind energy. The 70% share of renewable energy sources makes New Zealand one of the most sustainable countries in… …   Wikipedia

  • Waitaki River — The Waitaki River is a large river in the South Island of New Zealand, some 110 km long. It is the major river of the Mackenzie Basin. It is a braided river which flows through Lake Benmore, Lake Aviemore and Lake Waitaki. These are ultimately… …   Wikipedia

  • Maerewhenua River — The Maerewhenua River, also known as the Marewhenua River, is a small river in the Otago region of New Zealand s South Island. It is located in North Otago and acts as a tributary of the Waitaki River, which forms the border between Otago and… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”