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Dartmouth (Mount Beauty Hydro Scheme)

Hydro power plant in Victoria, Australia. Approximate location -36.5564, 147.5206.

HydroVictoriaAustraliaconventional storage

Dartmouth (Mount Beauty Hydro Scheme) is a 150 MW hydro power station in Victoria, Australia. It is operated by AGL Energy Pty Ltd. Based on reported annual generation of 56 GWh, it can supply roughly 16k homes. It ranks #127 of 536 Australia power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1981, it is around 45 years old — long-established. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 4.3% of Australia's electricity; the national grid averages 525 gCO₂/kWh (38.6% low-carbon) (2025).

150Legacy source-record capacity
56GWh reported / yr
16,000homes powered
1981commissioned (~45 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id AUS0000109.

Data status

Known data

FacilityDartmouth (Mount Beauty Hydro Scheme) WRI
CountryAustralia · Victoria WRI
Coordinates-36.5564, 147.5206 WRI
FuelHydro WRI
MW installed capacity150 MW WRI source record; scope not independently normalised
OwnerAGL Energy Pty Ltd WRI
Commissioned1981 WRI
Technologyconventional storage WRI
GWh reported / yr56 GWh/yr WRI

Calculated from dataset

Capacity rank in country#127 of 536 calculated
Fuel-specific rank in country#12 of 73 calculated
Capacity vs country/fuel peers3.33× · 45 MW median · 73 peers calculated
Homes-powered equivalent16,000 calculated from reported generation
Climate11.7°C · HDD 2,354 derived from coordinates
Environmental severityC2 · 27/100 derived from coordinates

Not available

GWh reported / yrNot available not in dataset
CO₂ emissionsnot applicable not applicable

Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.

Data provenance

The capacity and fuel fields on this page are source-record values from the upstream open dataset. They are useful for identification and ranking, but they have not been upgraded to a 2026 registry/GEM-location verified value.

capacity: WRI Global Power Plant Database source-record (legacy); fuel: WRI source-record fuel

In context: how this plant compares

At 150 MW, Dartmouth (Mount Beauty Hydro Scheme) is well above the median hydro plant in Australia (45 MW). Technically it is described as conventional storage. Hydropower converts the energy of falling or flowing water into electricity; output depends on rainfall and reservoir level, and large dams also provide grid balancing and storage.

Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.

Reported generation trend

2013: 179 GWh20132014: 358 GWh20142015: 447 GWh20152016: 508 GWh20162017: 44 GWh20172018: 56 GWh2018508 GWh

Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by AGL Energy Pty Ltd. All plants by this company →

Local climate & thermal context

This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 36.6°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

11.7°Cannual mean temp
2,354heating degree-days (base 18°C)
23cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
682 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 18 °CJF: 19 °CFM: 16 °CMA: 12 °CAM: 9 °CMJ: 6 °CJJ: 5 °CJA: 6 °CAS: 8 °CSO: 11 °CON: 14 °CND: 16 °CD19 °C

Heating degree-days here run 4% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 48/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

Site climate & environmental severity

For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a mild atmospheric environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C2 — Low), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.

C2ISO 9223 corrosivity (indicative)
27/100environmental-severity index
13.6°Cseasonal temperature swing
152 kmdistance to coast

Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.

Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #12 largest hydro power plant of 73 in Australia by capacity.

Australia has 73 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 8,878 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates -36.5564, 147.5206 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions

What type of power plant is Dartmouth (Mount Beauty Hydro Scheme)?

Dartmouth (Mount Beauty Hydro Scheme) is a 150 MW source-record hydro power plant in Victoria, Australia, commissioned in 1981.

How much electricity does Dartmouth (Mount Beauty Hydro Scheme) generate?

Dartmouth (Mount Beauty Hydro Scheme) generates about 56 GWh of electricity per year.

How many homes can Dartmouth (Mount Beauty Hydro Scheme) power?

Its output is enough to supply roughly 16,000 homes.

Who operates Dartmouth (Mount Beauty Hydro Scheme)?

Dartmouth (Mount Beauty Hydro Scheme) is operated by AGL Energy Pty Ltd.

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