Fire gutts hydro power station leaving hundreds of Tasmanian homes without power
Sept 2026Published 13 Nov 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor
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What happened
A fire broke out at Tungatinah Power Station at Tarraleah, in Tasmania's central highlands, and gutted the 142.2 MW above-ground hydroelectric station. Emergency services were called before 9pm on a Wednesday. No one was at the station, which is remotely operated. Crews arrived 27 minutes after the triple zero call but could not enter the building until power had been disconnected, and part of the building had collapsed. Around 25 emergency crews and 45 personnel hours were needed to bring the fire under control.
About 300 customers in the Bonnie Lake, Tarraleah and Dee Lagoon areas lost power. The station supplies about 5 per cent of Tasmania's electricity. Hydro Tasmania said other generation kept the power system secure, and the gas-fired Tamar Valley Power Station was to return to service to replace lost capacity. The Lyell Highway was closed for about 24 hours.
Contributing factors
The cause had not been determined at the time of reporting. Fire scene examiners and police forensics were to investigate. The building contained significant electrical infrastructure, which delayed firefighting until the power was confirmed disconnected.
Lessons learned
- Confirm that electrical plant is isolated and de-energised before firefighting crews enter, and plan for delays where isolation cannot be confirmed quickly.
- Remotely operated generation sites need fire detection and alarms linked to a monitored control centre, so that response does not depend on staff being on site.
- Keep sufficient replacement generation available elsewhere in the system, so that the loss of one station does not threaten supply security, and have a plan to restore affected customers.
More lessons on fire suppression and firefighting, detection and monitoring, theft, arson and site security, from every incident on the register.
Source
Published 2026-11-13. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.
