LAKE COLERIDGE SCHEME.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16881, 8 July 1920, Page 7

LAKE COLERIDGE SCHEME.

FULL DEVELOPMENT DESIRED. I I The question of the fuller development of the Lake Coleridge hydroelectric supply scheme was deal- Tutli in a special report presented- to the ] Executive Committee of tno Cantor- ( burv Progress League last night by the"organiser, Mr P. K. Climie. 1 Sir L'limie said that, as a resuit o. the almost incessant demand that was . being made for electric light and poutr ( from ail parts of Canteihuiy, and t.io ££» ii»Wity of tto dopartmeal.to .rjve sunpiv, he had carruu uuu bitll survey of tiie position to ascertain what prospect there was for some nnprovcmcnt being made. The P' f«euttapa-c-itv of the power station at Lake L-ol erkige was W)00 k.w.. but an additional 3000 kw. generator was recent]., installed, and was waiting completion • of the third pipe line cr^ be put into commission, which at tii earliest 'would not be. before the end of the year. Virtually the whole of the 9000 k.w., which be the capacity of the station wnen *..0 tiuia line was completed, had been ear-mai >. ed, leaving, no margin, to speak ot. ior other extensions to be made, althou l a little had been reserved for lianlfs Peninsula. Tenders were ealleu by the Department for a further odOJ k.w generator and turbine, and tendeis tor the fourth pipe line were to be called almost at once. When the fourth unit was put into commission—estimated to occupy at least 12 mouths—the full capacity of the present power station (12,000 k.w.) would have been leached. The position, thereiore, arose as to what steps should be to cope adequately with the increasing demand. With the extension of the sys tern to South Canterbury, which was now being proceeded with, the present station at Lake Coleridge was faced witli the reasonable certainty of becoming o.ci „axed almost i immediately us full capacity was reached. Lniess the plant was duplicated, or a fresh source developed elsewhere, industrial expansion in Canterbury would bo seriously cheeked. In the opinion of Sir Parry, late Chief Government Electrical Engineer, and other exjjerts, Lake ridge was easily capable of yielding 24,00!) k.w. by tiie diversion of the Harper river into the lake, and by coustruetincr fresh headworks. 'Ihe diversion of the river was now proceeding, and should be completed in another six months, thereby relieving tho position at the lake next winter. He understood it was the intention of the Department to continue with the developmen of XiuUc Coleridge until its limit was reached, rather than tap other sources of supply in Canterbury. Whether that would be done without long delays or not, would no doubt depend largely on the League. Already a lengthy period was certain to elapse after tho completion of tho present station, and before relief could be afforded by a new station, as it was estimated to take at least 18 montns to construct new headworks to say nothing of tho other requirements. The League should therefore, in his opinion, strongly urge upon the Government the need of immediate steps being taken to increase the output at Lake Coleridge by the establishment of a second power station, or, as an alternative, the development of some other source of supply. Sir Climie added that it was most important that the construction of an- | other tunnel should be commenced right away, otherwise therij would bo along period during which the supply would be quite inadequate. •Air Holland said it seemed an extraordinary thing that tho experts should have overlooked the Waimakarari Sir Marriner said that probaby the shingle difficulty had stood in the way, although that difficulty had been mot in other countries. Sir W. J. Jenkin said it was folly for the Government to spend £100,000 to take the current to Timaru when tho supply was . not sufficient for the local demand. Already many firms had scrapped their steam plants, and if the Lake Coleridge current were not available then tho position would be a serious ono. It should be the duty of the League to urge the Government .to develop the Coleridge supply to tho utMr Holland said the Christchurch City Council and Tramway Board were tiie two largest customers of the Department, and what Ashburton and Timaru took was only a fraction of the current supplied those two big customers. _ Mr J. Langton said the League should decide whether it would support the Waimakariri scheme or the Lake Color idee extension. . Sir Climie said the Waimakanri 2 scheme was entirely a City i matter, but in any event the district * could well possess both schemes. It. decided, on the motion of Mr { J. H. Blnckwell, to urge _ the Govern--1 rnent to wit in hand. without - px+r.nsion and duplication of tno j in "to 1 nipet the rapidly increasing demand for P °yT;- 0 c thnt fomw of the i rVp"l-1 forwarded to mems hers of th" "^" ; <=+ry and to country 3 members of Parliament.