POWER SUPPLY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 64, Issue 212, 19 June 1944, Page 2

POWER SUPPLY.

STRENGTHENING THE SYSTEM.

PROPOSALS BEFORE THE BOARD. ESTIMATED COST £56,000. Proposals for strengthening the distribution system for the area supplied by the Electric Power Board were outlined to the board to-day by the En-gineer-Secretary (Mr H. G. Kemp) in a special report. The main objects of the plan, which is estimated to cost £56,000 are: (1) To increase carryingcapacity to cope with growth of load; (2) To provide alternative feeder routes to main distributing centres to ensure better continuity of supply; (3) To strengthen lines subject to heavy snow loading. With the exception of town reticulation, according to the report, little has been done in recent years to increase the capacity of the system, with the result that rural main lines are generally overloaded. A considerable proportion of the load growth has been in the town area but the rural area has had its full share of load development. Difficulty is being experienced in maintaining a satisfactory voltage of the Ashburton-Springfield feeder, which supplies the Methven, Mount Somers and Mayfield areas; and on the Ashburton-Rakaia feeder, which supplies the Mitcham and Lauriston districts.

Second Point of Supply. An obvious solution for the early relief of parts of the system is tire installation of a second point of supply, and application- has: been made for this at the Springfield sub-station. There is a reasonable prospect of supply being given there this year. This will relieve the Ashburton-Springfield and Ashburton-Rakaia feeders and provide a more reliable supply to Methven and Lauriston. Experience during snowstorms has indicated that the only method of ensuring reasonable continuity of supply is the provision of sound alternative feeders. The valub of such loops was demonstrated by the Chertsey-Mit-cliam-Springfield loop, which suffered comparatively lightly in the 1943 snowstorm, when the main AshburtonSpringfield line was heavily damaged. The loop enabled the supply to be restored' to Methven days earlier than would otherwise have been possible. Its small capacity, however, did not permit such eai*ly restoration to the comparatively undamaged Mount Somers and Mayfield districts. The board has already agreed to the construction of an alternative feeder to Mayfield and materials for it are being assembled. The general objective in reconstructing main and secondai'y feeders is to double the capacity of the systems. In view of the. present maximum demand this might seem excessive but the load has been doubled in the last six years and even under war restrictions in supplies of appliances shows little sign of slackening. It would be uneconomic to limit the increase in capacity to what can be foreseen at present and then be faced with further reconstruction in a comparatively short time. “

Supply of Materials.

The first schedule of proposed works is largely governed by the supply of materials and has been limited to those which can be carried out with materials in stock or which are expected to arrive soon. Pole supplies are probably the most uncertain item, but certain proposed works will release some. The cable position is fairly satisfactory and will enable a ,start to be made on reconstruction. The schedule has been prepared to cover a programme of about seven years and developments during that period may call for reconsideration of some of the proposals. The estimated cost of the proposed work for each area is as follows: Highbank £5320, Springfield £IBSO, Lyndhurst-Lauriston £2300, Mitcham £IBOO, Springfield-Mitcham feeder £1520, Chertsey - Overdale - Rakaia £4500, Fairton-Dromore £9OO, Ash-burtou-Wakanui £950, AshburtonMavfield £10,500, Lismore £B6O, Lis-more-Hinds-Willowby £4550, Mayfield-Anama-Mount Somers £2IOO, Mount Somers-Staveley-Springburn £ IS7O, Springfield-Mayfield £ 330, Tinwald-Lagmhor-Westerfield £1950, Ealing', £950, Carew £4350, Ruapuna £630, Montalto £IOOO.

It is inevitable that further expenditure will be required in the town area and an allowance should be included for this. It is hard to give a definite estimate but possibly £3OOO may be sufficient.

Of the total cost of £56,000, £37,000 is purely due to increasing the current capacity of the system. The remaining £19,000 is for increasing the strength of the lines; but in doing this, the rewiring in most places will result in an increase in current carrying capacity. Mr W. H. Woods said a good deal of the expenditure involved was longoverdue.

The major consideration was service to consumers, said Mr J. Carr. For the last two years the. wires in the Mount Hutt area had been overloaded, with the result that the service had not been what it could be.

The chairman (Mr E. F. Nicoll) said that financial considerations need not worry the Board at all. He moved that the Board apply to the Local Government Loans Board for authority to raise £32,000 for 25 years at a rate not exceeding 31 per cent. 'Of this sum £24,000 would be used for the first stages of reconstruction work and £SOOO for building proposals (mentioned elsewhere in this issue).

This was seconded by Mr W. II Woods, and carried unanimously.