LAKE COLERIDGE POWER.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLI, Issue 9543, 23 June 1921, Page 2

LAKE COLERIDGE POWER.

PROFIT ON YEAR'S WORKING.

(Per Press Association.)

WELLINGTON, June 21. The financial returns from the Lake Coleridge hydro-electric power plant for the year ended March last show very satisfactory results. The gross revenue was £51,373 as against £45,831 m the previous year. Owing mainly to increased wages and the more frequent ' running of the steam stand-by plant to, meet overload conditions, the working expenses rose from £17,759 to £21,341 and interest, and depreciation, charges rose, from £24,487 to £26,585. The net result of the year's working is a profit of ' £3447, after paying £7946 towards depreciation to provide for renewals, as required. This profit has been taken m reduction of the accumulated losses during the first four years' operations. __ The maximum power-house load has increased dnring the year from 9420 h.p. to 9880 h.p., and the output from 33,010,130 units to 36,309,580 units. The rated capacity of the power-house plant is 8000 h.p., so that it has been running daily at heavy overloads, up to 20 per cent. This has been necessary owing to the urgent demand for power and the difficulty during the war ih making necessary extensions. The weekly average load factor of the power-house has increased from 59.9 to 61.4, and is thus very high indeed, again due to Ihe large demand for power at night as well as m the daytime. . • The saving of coal m the district m consequence of the use of this power has, the Department states, been very substantial. To have generated 36.000,000 units m a large modern steam plant would have required 48,000 tons of coal, worth from £100,000 to £120,000, but to have generated this amount of power m the numerous small engines as previously employed would have taken three or four times this amount of fuel, or a larger outlay m oil, kerosene, or petrol.