Snowy Mountains Scheme
Hydro-electric power station Installed capacity ( MW ) HP ( Thou ) Year completed
Guthega 60 80 1955
Tumut 1 330 440 1958
Tumut 2 286 384 1961
Blowering 80 110 1967
Murray 1 950 1,270 1967
Murray 2 550 740 1969
Tumut 3 1,650 2,210 1974
Tumut 3 Micro Hydro 0.72 0.97 2004
Jounama Small Hydro 14.4 19.3 2010
Jindabyne Dam Mini Hydro 1.1 1.5 2011
Components -- Power stations
The Snowy Mountains scheme or Snowy scheme is a hydroelectricity and irrigation complex in south-east Australia. The Scheme consists of sixteen major dams; seven power stations; one pumping station; and of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts that were constructed between 1949 and 1974. The Scheme was completed under the supervision of Chief Engineer, Sir William Hudson. It is the largest engineering project undertaken in Australia. The water of the Snowy River and some of its tributaries, much of which formerly flowed southeast onto the river flats of East Gippsland, and into Bass Strait of the Tasman sea, is captured at high elevations and diverted inland to the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers irrigation areas. The Scheme includes two major tunnel systems constructed through the continental divide of the Snowy Mountains, known in Australia as the Great Dividing Range. The water falls and travels through large hydro-electric power stations which generate peak-load power for the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Victoria. The Scheme also provides some security of water flows to the Murray-Darling basin, providing approximately 2,100 gigalitres (7.4×10 cu ft) of water a year to the basin for use in Australia's irrigated agriculture industry. In 2016, the Snowy Mountains Scheme was added to the Australian National Heritage List.