ELECTRICITY IN BRITAIN.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17922, 16 November 1923, Page 11

ELECTRICITY IN BRITAIN.

INCREASED POWEK OUTPUT.; ; Statistics of the perfomances of British electric power stations for the ■ yoir ending March 31st, 1823, fcav* been published by the Electricity Commission. One of the most interesting points is an increase in'total output of 854 million units as compared with. th« previous twelve months, the total output.'being 5466: million units. The' increaseis 17.5 per cent.;' which' is.a striking figure' for a year marked by such trade .depression, and shows that electricity is continuing to take th» place or other power . and . lighting agencies. The iuei consumption-rigures are the most interesting features of the pubii-< cation. . The average coal consumption per unit generated lor the whole country was ,2.781b. / This compares wftfia figure of 3.111b for the previous year. Tho result or this improvement ia that the. additional output of 17.5 per cent. haa been attained with an increase In iuei consumption of only 3 per cent. < Grqup A, which covers stations of over 200 million units output, is headed bj, Carville B, with a fuel consumption of 1.74fb. Group B, which represent* litations between 100 million and 201! million units output, is headed by Duneton, with a figure of 1.91, . and Group 0, containing stations between 50 and 100 million units output By North' Tees, with a figure of 1.78.. This figure or 1.73 'is' the best returned, "but Carville B, with a percentage of 17.S shows a slightly better thermal efficiency than North Tees, the iigure of which is 17.15. It is interesting to note that Group A, which covers stations generating over 200 million unite, contains three stations against two in the previous year'n returns. One of these stations is situated in the London. urea, and has a coal consumption or 52.311b; * . ♦ The return-covers 532 stations in all, - as. compared .with 536 in the previous issue. Comparisons between rue! consutantion results in New Zealand and Britain cannot" be made directly,'infiow' of difference in qualify and calorific values of the coals used. It is, however, interesting' to note, in corriparison with tho British average of 2.78?b per unify that when the Auckland station is completed it ia' anticipate"!! that the average consumption of ' the local Huntly- coals, which are not of high calorific value, will be about 31t> per unit. '.