The Splityard Creek Dam is a rock and earth-fill embankment dam with an un-gated spillway across the Pryde Creek that is located in the South East region of Queensland, Australia. The sole purpose of the dam is for the generation of hydroelectricity. The impounded reservoir is called the Splityard Creek Reservoir.

Location and features

The dam is located 30 km northwest of in the Somerset Region and forms the upper reservoir for the Wivenhoe Power Station. Construction commenced in 1977 and was completed in 1980 by contractors Thiess Brothers and John Holland. The rock and earthfill dam structure is 76 m high and 1140 m long. The 3371 e3m3 dam wall holds back the 28600 ML reservoir when at full capacity. From a catchment area of 3.8 km2, the dam creates a reservoir with a surface area of 102 ha. The uncontrolled un-gated spillway has a discharge capacity of 570 m3/s. The asset was transferred to CleanCo Queensland in October 2019.

Power station

Owned by CleanCo Queensland and operated by CS Energy, Wivenhoe Power Station is located on the eastern side of Wivenhoe Dam, north west of Brisbane. The station, which began commercial operation in 1984, was Queensland's first pumped-storage hydro-electric plant. It is operated remotely from an operating centre used to manage the Queensland electricity grid. The dam's water capacity is enough for the power station to run at full load for approximately ten hours. Using both pumps, this water can be replaced in about 14 hours. The pumped storage power station consists of two circular concrete silos, each of about 32 m internal diameter. Each of the silos houses a 250 MW turbine generator and pump set, giving a total capacity of 500 MW.

Recreation

Public access including swimming is banned from the dam due to strong currents and submerged hazards.