The Development of Hydro-Electricity in Australia
Student: H.W.M. Lunney
Principal supervisor: Prof. Deepak Sharma
Completion year: 2001
Thesis abstract
Every Hydro-Electric installation in Australia is described, past and present, with details about each, state by state, because Energy is constitutionally a state matter, with the Snowy Scheme treated separately because of its unique constitutional position. The total is 9 stations no longer in service, 66 in service. From this description a list of all stations is built up. There are 9 stations no longer in service, 66 in service, the life to date 1999 ranging from 91 to 3 years. From this list an estimate of expected life is made. It extends to some hundreds of years. This data is used to investigate the economic justification of the Snowy Scheme, a controversial subject. The conclusion is reached that the Snowy was in fact a brilliant investment because of the relatively small but monotonic inflation since it began and the remarkable longevity of hydro-electric works. As well, some areas where electricity supply interacts with economic theory are discussed.