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to cool turbine water from the Hazelwood
power station near Morwell.
Temperatures range extensively in the
pondage as the cooling process occurs and on one adjacent
property a local farmer is using the warm water to assess
the benefits on yabby breeding and growth.
In mid winter the
temperature at this location has not been below 23°c
and it has enabled him to greatly increase the development
in the yabby nursery with females hatching young every 6
weeks.
Hazelwood Pondage (Photo -
G. Blackman - GAIN)
This has created a
remarkable opportunity for research and development when you
consider wild yabbies in local dams are still inactive with
natural water temperatures around 8-10°c.
Options to use the warm water can vary
from direct use of the water into ponds and tanks to the
operation of a heat exchange system for treated water in
ponds and tanks.
This could then allow for the potential
farming of warm-water freshwater and marine fin-fish based
on the waters of the Hazelwood Pondage and begs the question
of the wasted opportunity of all the generated steam created
in the power industry. |
