STEAM FOR POWER

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 71, Issue 6, 18 October 1950, Page 7

STEAM FOR POWER

THREE YEARS TO MAKE DECISION MR GOOSMAN’S REPLY TO OPPOSITION (P.A.) WELLINGTON, Oct. 17. - Speaking in the House of Renresentatives to-night to the vote on the Estimates for Electricity Supply Account, several members of the Opposition quoted statements by the Minister in charge of the State Hydro-electricity Department (the Hon. W.-'S. Goosman) when in Opposition in advocating the construction of a large steam plant for generating electricity, and asLed if he still favoured that policy.

Mr C. F. Skinner (Opposition, Gutler) asked, if the Minister was still critical of the planned development on the Waikato River, and if he intended to disperse future power stations to other places. ' Mr Goosman said that if there had been no development of the generaion of power by geo-thermal steam he would still have besen a keen advocate of a steam plant. In his opinion it would be foolish to put a steam plant anywhere else but on a new coalfield. The Government had a breathing space of three years in which to explore the possibilities of geo-thermal steam generation, and intended to explore them to the full. If ft was possible to utilise geothermal steam, then it would be foolish to erect a steam plant costing £5,000,000 or £6,000,000; but if a steam plant became necessary—and it would be needed only in the South Island—it would have to be in an area where there was enough coal to last 40 or 50 years. “We have three years in which to decide what sort of steam stations there will be,” said Mr Goosman. He said that the schemes on hand to-day would cost far more than those put into operation previously, and, in addition, the cost of reticulation and transformed stations had increased considerably.

Separate Accounts Opposed

Mr McCombs said the power losses were being made in the North Island and not in the South. Ninetyfive per cent, of the power generated by coal was in the North, and it was not fair to suggest that the South Island authorities should carry those in the North,

Mr W. B. Tennept (Govt., Palmerston North): Does the same thing apply to the railways? Mr Goosman said it was not for the good of New Zealand to raise disparities between the North Island and the South. By the time the Roxburgh Gorge.scheme came jnto operation the cost of power to the South Island' might be higher than North Island costs.

He was not in favour of separating the North and South Island accounts, or in favour of separating any part of New Zealand from another.

Mr J. Hanan (Govt., Invercargill) said he could not agree with the Minister. He said the issue might become a “very big one indeed” if the accounts were not separated. The vote was passed.