Back To Waddamana: Hydro Tasmania's centenary celebrations focus on its first power station

Hydro Tasmania is inviting former employees and past residents of Waddamana to celebrate its first hydropower station supplying Hobart.

Back to Waddamana Day kicked off Sunday at the Waddamana power station museum and village, north of Bothwell in the Central Highlands.

Centenary project manager Lara van den Berg said an official cake-cutting ceremony would mark Hydro Tasmania's 100 years.

"We are particularly pleased that some of our experienced employees will be conducting guided tours of the original station on the day," she said.

"We are inviting Tasmanians to join us for what should be a fun day in the beautiful Tasmanian wilderness and to celebrate an important part of the state's history."

Work began in 1910 on damming the waters of the Great Lake and the Shannon River for the station at Waddamana.

The government created the Hydro Electric Department to manage the completion of the scheme in 1914, and in 1916 the first of two generators fired up.

Growth periods followed, including adding seven generators between 1918 and 1923 to Waddamana A as demand increased, and then building Waddamana B with four turbines between 1939 and 1949.

Waddamana A station was decommissioned in 1965 after the Poatina project came online and was turned into a museum in 1988.

Waddamana B stopped operating in 1994.

Hydro Tasmania's museum contains restored original machinery in original positions in the station.

There is also equipment from the old Shannon power station, penstocks and pipelines, and displays about the technology.

The museum also holds photographs and objects that represent village life in the 1900s.