The Rubicon Hydroelectric Scheme is a small run-of-the-river hydroelectric scheme located on the Rubicon and Royston Rivers, north east of Melbourne, 40 km (25 mi) south-west of Alexandra, Victoria, Australia. The scheme commenced in 1922, and was the first state-owned hydroelectric scheme to generate electricity in mainland Australia, and among the first in the world to be remotely controlled.^[1] For the first ten years of its operation it supplied on average 16.9% of electricity generated by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria.^[1] It is now owned and operated by AGL Energy and contributes approximately 0.02% of Victoria's energy supply.^[2]

In the 1920s, the State Electricity Commission of Victoria investigated hydroelectric power generation, in parallel with work on brown coal-fired power stations at Yallourn. In 1922, a report was delivered by Messrs J.M. and H.E. Coane relating to the development of potential hydro-electric power on the Goulburn River and the Cerberean Range. Their findings were submitted to the Parliament of Victoria for funding,^[3] with the more cost effective project^[1] approved in 1922.^[4]

Known as the Sugarloaf – Rubicon Project, the initial plan involved five power stations, with total turbine capacity of 25,800 horsepower (19.2 MW). It was to be the largest power scheme on the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission of Victoria's ongoing construction of the Sugarloaf storage reservoir for irrigation. Greatly enlarged in the 1950s, the reservoir is now called Lake Eildon. The four other power stations comprised two on the Rubicon, one on the Royston, and one on Snobs Creek. The plans were later altered, with the Snobs Creek station being deleted, and an additional station provided at Rubicon Falls, bringing the installed turbine capacity to over 35,000 horsepower (26 MW).^[4] The Sugarloaf Power Station generated electricity during the irrigation season from October to April, when water released from the dam could also be used for power generation. The other four power stations were used during the wetter seasons of winter and spring.^[4]

Work started in 1922 and, by 1928, the mountain stream section of the project was complete, with the Sugarloaf power station on the Eildon Weir following in 1929.^[5] Rubicon 'A' power station has a pipeline with a 1,455-foot (443 m) drop over its 4,280-foot (1,305 m) length. That station remotely controlled the other ones in the project.^[4] Minor enlargements were carried out at one station in 1954–55.^[1]

In the 1950s, the 13.5-megawatt (18,100 hp) Sugarloaf Power Station on the Goulburn River was replaced by the larger Eildon Power Station, after the weir was replaced by a much higher dam wall at the same site. The turbines were upgraded and reused.^[5]

Today, the scheme consists of three small run-of-river dams, four power stations, and associated raceways and penstocks.^[6] The total generating capacity of the scheme is approximately 13 megawatts, which is achieved during the winter months.^[2]

The Scheme is on the Victorian Heritage Register^[10] and the Register of the National Estate,^[1] and the surrounding state forest is set aside for its protection.^[6] The historical significance of the scheme is increased by its century of continuous use in essentially original form.^[10]

• List of power stations in Victoria