Where I worked for the day Dad’s team manages all of Contact Energy’s generation offers to New Zealand Electricity Market. There is over 20 computer screens used to operate the dams and for trading. This is a picture of me lowering the flow gates at Hawea. For lunch me and dad went to the diary and had burgers.

Hydro Power Stations Dam - Most hydropower plants rely on a dam that holds back water, creating a large reservoir. Intake – Gravity pulls the water through the penstock, a pipeline that leads to the turbine. Water builds up pressure as it flows through this pipe. Turbine - The water strikes and turns the large blades of a turbine, which is attached to a generator above it by way of a shaft. The most common type of turbine for hydropower plants is the Francis Turbine, which looks like a big disc with curved blades. A turbine at Clyde turns at 125 revolutions per minute (rpm). Generators - As the turbine blades turn, so do a series of magnets inside the generator. Giant magnets rotate past copper coils, producing electricity. Outflow - Used water is carried through turbines and re-enters the river downstream.

ME AT THE DAM Above: Me standing in front of the spill gates. Above: These are the penstocks that take the water from the lake to the turbines.

COOL FACTS 4,600,000 litres of water would come out of the spill gates every second if they are fully open. During the November 1999 flood there was 3,700,000 litres of water passing through them every second. There is always someone working at Clyde dam, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Clyde dam makes enough electricity to run 400,000 hair dryers at once

The End