Lake Narracan

Lake Narracan is an artificial lake on the Latrobe River built to supply cooling water for the nearby brown coal-fired power stations.

Location

Lake Narracan is located on the Latrobe River in the Latrobe Valley. The dam wall is approximately 1.5 km upstream of the Yallourn Power Station. Its upper reaches are approximately 6 km further to the west, close to where the Narracan Creek meets the Latrobe River. The lake was formerly called the Yallourn Storage Dam.

History

The reservoir was first constructed by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria between 1959 and 1961 and has the capacity of 8,600 megalitres (ML).

In 2002 major works were undertaken to bring the reservoir up to modern day standards, including anchoring the dam wall to the foundation bedrock and strengthening the four gates.

Purpose

The dam supplies water for cooling the generators of the power stations in the Latrobe Valley. This supply is supplemented with water from Blue Rock Lake approximately 15 km upstream on the Tanjil River.