TAMAR Valley Power Station has repaired one of its gas turbines as part of a state government plan to deal with the state's worsening energy situation.
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The 58MW combined cycle gas turbine was initially due back in July, but was brought back earlier to deal with the energy crisis.
Tamar Valley Power Station manager Brad Turner said the unit was an important part of the state's energy supply plan.
"The total install capacity we have here at Tamar Valley Power Station is 386MW. This machine is 58MW so it makes quite a significant contribution to our overall gas supply strategy," he said.
He said he expects the unit to go into service by April 8.
Mr Turner said the gas turbine would assist greatly with the power crisis, as energy storage levels reach 14.6 per cent and falling.
Tamar Valley Power Station uses both combined and open cycle gas turbines, in order to provide base load and peaking generation.
The Rolls Royce ‘Trent’ unit was sent to Abu Dhabi in September and returned to Tamar Valley Power Station on Thursday.
Hydro Tasmania spokesperson Samantha Meyer said the usage of additional gas and diesel generators would depend on the level of rain and when and where it fell.
“If we’ve got water in our storages, some of the storages are quite large like Lake Gordon or Great Lake,” she said.
“Some of them are quite small or they’re part of what’s called a run-of-river system and they fill and empty very quickly.”
“Now if they fill and we’re not generating then that water will spill over the top of a dam and that’s wasted basically.”
Ms Meyer said it was a costly exercise to air freight the gas turbine, but Hydro believed it was the right decision.
Hydro is on track to have 100MW of diesel generators installed by the end of March, she said, and working on 200MW by the end of April.
She said using the generators would also depend on long term issues with Basslink and contingencies such as a major power station not being available.
Hydro is also planning for phase 2 of their Energy Supply Plan, she said.
Ms Meyer said she imagines there will be some details revealed of phase 2 over the next few weeks.
Hydro Tasmania has brought in diesel generators to be installed at Catagunya Power Station, George Town substation, Port Latta substation, Meadowbank Power Station and at a former mine site at Que River on the West Coast.
Basslink repairs are expected to be complete by late May.
