The hydro-electric system utilised in Paronella Park was the earliest application of hydro-electric technology in Queensland,
and as such is both rare and significant as an example of creative and technical achievement, and has the potential to reveal further information about the development and application of this technology.

In 1933 Paronella installed a hydro-electric system which harnessed the cascade. The system used an aqueduct from the top of the Falls across to an inlet pit. The water then fell 30 feet, and was within the capacity of the turbine, an English model with variable pitch inlet valves to control the flow, which was directly coupled to a DC generator which was ex-army stock and which Paronella acquired cheaply. Engineers from the South Johnstone Sugar Mill helped to design and install the system. The turbine and alternator were lowered onto a concrete platform built on 12 reinforced concrete piers below the cliff, and the walls and roof were then constructed around the equipment. It was the earliest application of hydro-electric technology in Queensland. The system was approved to operate in 1934, and the power was reticulated throughout the Park to operate lighting, pumps and refrigeration, and was also integral to the establishment of the picture theatre that Paronella had planned. The system also supplied power to the nearby township of Mena Creek.