Wye Creek
Constructed amongst challenging mountainous terrain with spectacular views along the shores of Lake Wakatipu, the station draws water from two branches of the creek.
Commissioned: 1941
Operating Head: 285m
Annual Generation: 8 GWh
Wye Creek is reached via a track from SH6 on the Queenstown side of the Wye Creek Bridge. The station consists of two weirs, pipeline, penstocks, and power station. The former Otago Central Electric Power Board purchased the Wye Creek plant from the Goldfields Dredging Company in September 1941, the transfer was made for £5,750. It was originally built by the Golden Terrace Extended Gold Dredging Company Ltd, which went into liquidation in 1929. Wye Creek Station retains the mining privileges, under historic mining legislation, to this day.
At the time of purchase, by the Power Board, Wye Creek Hydro Scheme had a production capacity of 400kW of energy. A further generator and turbine (formerly of the Lower Roaring Meg Scheme) was added in late 1991. Also, at this time major upgrading and renewal of penstock, foundations and exterior cladding of the powerhouse, was completed. As road access was not available for the penstock part of the project, most of the material was transported in by helicopter.
The Scheme takes water from Wye Creek via two small intakes high in the valley above the station at the Southern end of the Remarkables Range. This station has no storage, being a run-of-the-river type; water is delivered to the station by a pipeline varying from 600mm to 450mm in diameter. Once the water has passed through the turbine, it is then discharged back into Wye Creek.
The view from the Wye Creek Scheme