yingina/ Great Lake was the first source of water for Hydro Tasmania. A private company started construction on Waddamana in 1910, but the project struck financial trouble. In 1914 the Tasmanian Government bought the partly built works and formed the Hydro-Electric Department to take over. In 1916 power generation began.
The station is underground on the northern side of yingina / Great Lake.
When Waddmana Power Station was decommissioned, Poatina replaced it in the broader power system. Poatina is ideally located, making use of a steep drop from yingina / Great Lake down the face of the Great Western Tiers. Water that passes through Poatina is subsequently used to generate energy at Trevallyn Power Station.
Arthurs Lake was created to increase the water available at yingina / Great Lake. Water is pumped from Arthurs Lake 140 metres up to yingina / Great Lake.
This means more energy can be generated from water in yingina / Great Lake via the large Poatina Power Station, and then Trevallyn Power Station.
Before the water reaches yingina / Great Lake, it passes through Tods Corner Power Station to generate a small amount of energy.
Trevallyn was the first power station built outside of the central highlands. It is 5 kilometres away from the centre of Launceston, in northern Tasmania. Lake Trevallyn has very little storage, so the power station makes use of the daily flow.