Alternatively it is derived from Wiradjuri and Ngiyambaa "gajal" for water container with suffix "lugu" for "her" or "his".

[4] The explorers, John Oxley and George Evans, followed the Lachlan River down to Lake Cargelligo in 1817.

Lake Cargelligo was known as Cudgelligo[5] (or sometimes Cudgellico) in the 1800s and was officially changed when the railway arrived in 1917.

[9] Since then the railway link has been used for cargo transport, especially for bulk grain which the surrounding farms cultivate.

[14] The plant was constructed using a grant from the Australian Government's Advanced Electricity Storage Technologies (AEST) Program.

More details on the project can be obtained from the Final Public Report – Commonwealth of Australia Department of Resource, Energy and Tourism, August 2011.

In 2016, the owner announced plans to dismantle the Lake Cargelligo site for redevelopment.

Earthworks were conducted, in the late 19th century and using horse and scoop, to build a levee bank and deepen sections of the lake, so that it would become more permanent.