The station opens every two years, alternating between Trevallyn and Poatina power stations, and involves its technicians explaining the inner workings of the facility. 

All allocated tickets for the open day were snapped up within two days of them being advertised, and production manager Brendan Groves said it was only right taxpayers should be able to inspect the power station every once in a while. 

“They are the owners of it, ultimately,” he said.

“It’s good to be able to give them a sense of belonging to the plant, which is theirs.”

The power station was built in 1955, and has a sampling of gear from that time to the present day, as its machinery has been naturally upgraded and replaced. 

It has four turbines generating a possible 102.8 megawatts from the daily flow of the South Esk River, and employs 19 people onsite plus about 19 again on technical support at an offsite office. 

Mr Groves said it was gratifying showing people around the Trevallyn infrastructure. 

“They are excited and they’re happy to be able to see inside,” he said. 

The station is currently in the early stages of developing a education centre around their unused machinery from times past, which will enable them to take on larger school groups from primary and secondary schools. 

They currently do about one school tour a month, and Mr Groves said the station was a hit with children. 

On Saturday, one of those children was Lillian Frappell, who could be a future engineer in the making. 

Lilian said she enjoys science at school, where class experiments have included dropping eggs from a height with protective casings students designed themselves, and building a bridge out of straws. 

Dad Damian Frappell said the tour was solving a longstanding mystery. 

“We drive past the power station every day, and we thought it was a great opportunity to come and see it,” he said.

“We’ve never been in and we’ve been dying to.”  

He has been participating in the run of opportunities lately to see inside interesting Launceston buildings, including the Open House events last weekend. 

“I just love that, getting to see all these places that you normally can’t get into,” he said. “It’s really exciting.” 

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