The other five mini-hydros are all complete and operating at Preston, Notting Hill, Olinda and Mt View Reservoirs and at Upper Yarra Dam. The plants range in electricity generating capacity from 400 kW at Notting Hill to 2,000 kW at Preston.

The project, which was undertaken by Melbourne Water to help achieve its zero emissions by 2018 target, will produce enough renewable energy to power the equivalent of approximately 5,000 homes.

The sites were constructed progressively from April 2007 to June 2009, with the first site at Preston completed in April 2008 and the last site at Silvan completed in mid 2009.

The construction at Silvan involved the installation of a small turbine alongside one of the water mains supplying the Silvan Reservoir. The design and construct contractor for the project was Hydro Tasmania Consulting. The electricity produced by the system will be fed back into the power grid.

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General Manager of Asset Planning Paul Pretto said that the new plants would harness the power from the water supply system to produce up to 40,000 MWh per year of renewable energy, with no greenhouse emissions.

“Melbourne Water uses a vast amount of electricity to move water and sewage around the system and we feel that we have an implicit obligation to lower our greenhouse gas emissions and source our energy from renewable sources.”

Melbourne Water is also planning to expand the generating capacity of its Werribee biogas power plant from 8 to 10 MW. The plant uses sewage from the Western Treatment Plant in Werribee by capturing biogases in covered treatment lagoons.

AGL has worked with Melbourne Water since 1999 to build and operate the biogas-fired power plant at the Werribee site. The agreement will increase onsite renewable electricity generation from 52 gigawatt hours per year to almost 72 GWh/a, or about 95 per cent of the treatment plant’s annual usage.

Mr Pretto said the two additional power generators that would be installed would allow the treatment plant to produce approximately 95 per cent of its annual electricity needs by mid 2010.