His actions connected the station to the state’s electricity grid, completing a hydro system that has been almost 70 years in the making.

After three years construction the ambitious project that includes a 7km water tunnel through the alps and a 10-storey station now buried underground was delivered on budget and on time.

The 140 megawatt power plant will provide peak energy demand power at premium prices for AGL.

It has enough capacity to power 120,000 homes.

The power station is sandwiched between three others completed in the 1960s but part of the Kiewa Hydro Scheme first started in 1938.

All make use of the same water and most importantly to the Premier with zero greenhouse gas emissions.

“This project is great for jobs, the economy and the environment,” Mr Brumby said.

“It has the capacity to generate enough electricity for a city larger than the size of Geelong and it does that with clean, green, zero emissions power.

“It is also an engineering masterpiece.

“It is the biggest hydro scheme in Australia in 25 years, on the same scale as hydro plants at Dartmouth and Kiewa.”

Mr Brumby said climate change was real.

“We all need to tackle climate change,” he said.

“What we are going to see is more investment in renewable energy and a change in the energy mix.

“Around the world governments and the private sector have invested in renewable energy and that is very much the way of the future.

“This power station forms part of a grid of cleaner energy including solar, gas-fired and wind power which are driving up jobs and investment, particularly in regional Victoria.”

The power station, midway between Falls Creek and Mount Beauty, will be used to meet peak power demand spikes in the morning and again around 6pm.

The cost of power at these peaks can be as much as $10,000 a megawatt hour compared to $30 and $40 at other times.

In response to the what impact that may have on electricity bills, Mr Brumby said consumers were voting with their feet.

“They want green power, Victoria has more consumers than any other state wanting green power,” he said.

Editorial — page 36