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Highbank Power Station

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Highbank Power Station

The Highbank Power Station is a small run-of-the-river-hydroelectric power station in the Ashburton District of the South Island of New Zealand. Owned and operated by Manawa Energy, the station generates power from the Rangitata Diversion Race (RDR) irrigation scheme when agricultural water demand i

s low. Water is discharged into the Rakaia River when the station is generating. On 16 June 1945 (1945-06-16) the Minister of Works, Bob Semple, opened the power station, and "set the 36,000bhp in motion". Additional equipment installed at the site in 2010 enables pumping of water from the Rakaia River back up the penstock to increase the water availability in the RDR for agricultural irrigation during the peak summer months.

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