HYDRO-ELECTRICITY IN NEW ZEALAND

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20328, 29 August 1931, Page 23

HYDRO-ELECTRICITY IN NEW ZEALAND

ALTHOUGH abundant water-power has always seen available throughout Now Zealand, comparatively little uso was made of it before 1900. Since then, however, the development of electricity has been extensive, and promises to be still more ! extensive in the future. In 1903 waterpower to the amount of 9911 horsepower was actually in uso. By 1913 this amount had been increased to 34,956 horse-power, by 1923 to 54,344 horse-power, and by 1930 to the great total of 200,43-4 horse-power. Ibis last figuro is almost tour times as groat as tho total five years ago, the increase being mainly duo to- .the. operation of the Government hydroelectric stations in tho North Island. When tho Waitaki station, too, brought into the system, tho Dominion will havo as good an electric power service as any country m t'io world. _ * . An Electric Motive Power Ac:c, passed iu 1896, gives the first indication that tho Government was becoming aware.of tho value of waterpower in Now Zealand. One of its sections provides that the Governor-in-Council may "cause such enquiries to be inado as he thinks lit in order to ascertain the feasibility of utilising the waterways of . the colony for the purpose of supplying electric motive power for use on the goldfields. It was under the provisions of thisi and of the Electric Telegraph Act (I860) that the first electric supply ■ systems. in New Zealand -were starred. t»r these, the first of which tlierte is any record, was instituted in Reefton in 1887. This plant, driven by waterpower, was still in existence in WJo, although the actual machinery had bv then been considerably fortified When it was inaugurated, tiie reticulation system extended over, » , distance of four miies only and although the scheme is the oldest m the Dominion, the total mileage of electric lines is still only. ten. Power in Omtcibury. Tho earliest practical proposal for the utilisation of hydro-electric power in Canterbury consisted of a report.prepared by Sir Arthur Dudley Dobson for the Ottristchurch City Council, and dated October, 1899. Two schemes were outlined in this. The most feasible proposed to take water from the Waimakariri river just above the Gorge bridge by means of a short tunnel through the rock spur forming the southern promontory of the gorge, enlarging a previously existing water-race tunnel! Then the water was to be carried in an open race five and threequarter miles in length at end of which a fall of 90ft was available back to the river-bed, the river falling here about 25ft to. the mile. This was ample for all purely municipal requirements, and under the enthusiastic advocacyjf the late Mr T. E.Tayloranda committee of business men of the City tne p 0 Bosal took definite shape. The transSon distance from the power-house to the main sub-station on tk wton outskirts of the City was about 30 miles and the transmission pressure | would have- been about 30,000 volts. The whole scheme would thus have been similar to that, now supplying the City of Duncdin from the Waipon Tails, both in its engineering and electrical features and in the difficulties involved in maintaining the service, and was a thoroughly feasible and usefu proposal for tho municipal requirements. But at this stage the Government stepped in, and the whole question of i electric power supply assumed a , much wider significance, becoming at once a provincial instead of a municipal matter. A scheme limited to 5000 k.w. was no longer sufficient. The Government could run distributing feeders-over the whole province; and electric power for operating the once, and ultimately for the electrification of the railways, had to be provided—outlets which were not available to a purely municipal scheme. A mucL source of powci had-therefore to be sought. This proved to be available at Lake Coleridge, as demonstrated by the exhaustive investigations of Mr P. bllav then Engineer-in-Chief, published in September, 1904, and supported by an American expert, Mr L. M. Hancock, of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, of California. Municipal v. State Control. Tho question of municipal versus State control was not decided at once. In September, 1909, Mr F. T. M. Kissel, ?;.Kc. A.M.1.C.E., then Engineer to the Selwyn County Council, who had carried out preliminary surveys of Lake Coleridge scheme, was retained by the City Council to report on its suita-

History of Development PROVIDING FOR NEEDS

bility for the Council's supply. His report, supported by Mr F. W. Marchant, M.1.C.E., of Timaru, indicated that the proposals were quito practical and reasonable in cost.

In the meanwhile the City Council had taken steps to give a partial supply of electricity in tho central portion of the City, as an adjunct to tho City refuse-destructor. Tho destructor was built in 1901, at a total cost of £13,000. It consisted of two Meldrum refuse-fur-naces, each connected with a BabcockWilcox water-tube boiler of 1741 square feet heating surface, equivalent to about 170 horse-power capacity. The steam from tho boilers was simply al-. lowed to blow off continuously; In 1902, during the Mayoralty ,of the Hojj. If. F. Wigrani, it was decided to utiliso this waste steam for the generation of elcctrie power, and a steam plant was installed consisting of two steamgenerators, of 100 k.w. each, with a large storage battery. The system was immediately successful, and although supply was limited to the central portion of the City, it rapidly grew to the capacity of power plant, involving extensions within tho second year. Even at high retail rates of 6d for light and 3d for power the demand proved so great as to demonstrate the urgency of a larger and more economical scheme.

Agreement with Government. The demand for a comprehensive hydro-clectric scheme was thus very urgent, but the question was still at issue whether it should be taken up by the Ctiy or the Government. At last, during the Mayoralty of the late Mr T. E. Taylor in 1910, a working basis was reached under which it was proposed that the City Corporation

should retain the reticulation and rc'-. tail distribution of. energy within the City area, and that the should undertake' tie development of the water-power, selling the energy in bulk, to the City and retaining' the right to supply direct'to the railways, tramways, and to local authorities out; side the City limits. Moreover, as part of a-'much larger system,, the cost per horse power both of installation and of operation, would be substantially lower than from a smaller self-contained scheme limited to the City requirements. In August, 1910, the Aid to Waterpower Act was passed, and the Lake Coleridge scheme assumed a definite shape. This Act gave the Government power to borrow £500,000 for the development of water-power throughout the Dominion. In March, 1911. Mr Evan Parry, B.Sc., A.M.lnsfc.C.E., M.1.E.E., was appointed Chief Electrical Engineer to design and supervise the instal

lation of the new works. Ho arrived in Now Zealand the following July, and work was commenced on the details at once. The surveys were completed and the construction of the headworks was carried out by Mr F. T. Kissel, the power-house details were designed by Mr E. Hitchcock, and the construction of the building was carried out under tho supervision of M* 11. Gayford. The power-house plant was installed by Mr A. It. Blackwood, now Powerhouse Superintendent. Tho transmission lines to Christchurch were carried out by contract under tho supervision of Mr IT. Curtis, tho sub-station equipment under Mr F. G. Ferguson, and the. primary distribution system under Mr E. L. Gray, as assistant engineers. The installation was completed for formal opening by the Premier on November 25th, 1914, and intermittent service commenced. Many difficulties had still to bo overcome, but a continuous service was run from March Ist, 1915. Growth of Demand. Tho City system was supplied at oneo by means of two rotary converters, giving a load of 1000 lc.w. on tho. water-power plant from tho first day of operation. This rose quickly to 1300 lc.w., and remained stationary here for tho first year, the peak load on March 31st. 1916, being only 1350 k.Wi, and, tho output for the year 4,860,260 units. It required six months after tho supply first- commenced to satisfy tho large consumers that the supply would prove satisfactory, and after that it- took several months longer to install : the necosj rary motors and wiring. But in April, 1916, the load , began to go up rapidly, and by March, 3917, reached the full capacity of tho installed plant, 4500 k'.w. A fourth unit of 1500 k.w. capacity was then put into service," giving a total installed capacity at stfy'e poworhouse of 0000 k.w. So rapidly did the demand increase that tho capacity of tho Lake Coleridgo station had been increased to 27,000 k.w. in 1927, and to 31,500 k.w. in 1930. Following a dangerous fall in the level of the' Lake during the winter and spring of 1930, necessitating the strictest economies in the use of electric power in Canterbury, a steam-generated stand-by plant is being put into operation at Lyttelton to help carry the growing load until the Waitaki scheme is completed.

Scheme for Dominion. While he was Chief Electrical Engineer, Mr Evan Parry prepared a very complete report on the electrification' of the North Island, with estimates of tho demand and the cost of supply. After, a full discussion of the use of electricity in the Dominion he assessed the demand at 1-5 h.p. (.15 k.w.) per head ;of

population, and estimated the total power required, allowing..for losses,, at 160,000 h.p. of installed, capacity in the North Island and 110,000 h.p. in the South Island. 7•. . - After careful comparisons with .developments in other countries -and detailed estimates "of tho future demand in New Zealand, this was adopted as the basis for a Government scheme. For the North Island the scheme embraced three main stations—Maugahao (24,000 h.p.), Lake Waikaremoana (40,000 h.p. capable of development, to.'.•1430,000;- h.p.), and the 'Arapunr RapMs,; .on the Waikato (60,000 h.p. capable of extension to 120,000 h.p.). The three stations are being linked up to form a complete network over the North Island. South Island Requirements. On the same basis 130,000 h.p. is required in the South Island, and towards

this developments are in hand for. an ultimate capacity as follows: Horse-power. Lake Coleridge (Public Works Department) . ... .. 46,000 Waitaki river (Public. Works Department) .. .. 40,000 Waipori Palls (Dunedin City Council) .. .. 28,000 Lake Monowai (Southland Electric Power Board) .. 16,000 130,000 As in the North Island, the Government stations will be interconnected with the other two stations, making a complete system covering the major portion of the South Island. The capacity of the Waitaki 6tation is capable of great extension. Total Expenditure. The total Government expenditure on hydro-electric depelopment to March 31st, 1930, including capital outlay, stocks,' and debit balances on the trading accounts, was as follows: — £ Lake Coleridge ... 1,813,563 Waikaremoana-Mangahao 3,984,490 Horahora-Arapuni ... 3,815,469 W/itaki ... ... 481,693 Other surveys, etc. ... 15,259 Total ... ' £10,110,479

ELECTRO PLATING

DEBT TO FARADAY. | DEVELOPMENT OP IMMENSE | INDUSTRY. : When ncxpffdti-gildyi copper ring, Sing MU parodnj . _ . ! I can dtftfhis wondrous: thing j Just T>(tbause of Faraday. j , ■ ■" • —(Anon.)- * Perhaps the first great figure in-elec-troplating history was Humphry Davy, the son of a wood-carver of Penzance. Davy, became Sir Humphry Davy, and the first chemist of hia- generation. His discoveries were many, and of far-reach-ing importance, but .his greatest discovery was Michael Faraday. To-day the laws laid down by ' Faraday are* the basis of electroplating calculations," and the unit of capacity is known as the "Farad." Although Galvani discovered contactelectricity in 1789,*, there , was nothing like a scientific reduction of metals by electricity ; imtil-ISOS, when Brugnatelli gilded two silver medals, connecting them by means of a copper with the negative pole of the pile, and allowing them to dip in a solution of fulminating gold in potassium cyanide, while a piece of gold was suspended in the solution from tho positive pole. Ho j also noted that the gold was dissolved. Faraday's Discoveries. Progress seems to have been slow j until 1831, when Faraday's' discoveries were announced. Then many other electro-chemists turned their attention to the deposition of copper, and in 1839 by the sMU and enterprise of such men as Elkington, of Birmingham, and De Euelz, of Piris, the galvanoplastie process was added to the industrial arts, and tho methods employed by these men have bedn used ever since in the printing trade. This -process, now known as electrotyping, has in recent years been adapted to the manufacture of gramophone records. It is also extensively used by the electroplater for hoavy deposits of copper before nickel and chromium plating. Up to 1844 batteries were used as the source of electric current, but in that year Woolrych constructed the first dynamo-electric machine that ever deposited, silver on a practical scale. This machine, was used-by Messrs Prijne and Son, of Birmingham, and is • still proserved as an interesting relic ■by the Corporation of at- Aston Hall. ' | ; Electroplating with silver was of all electro-metallurgical .processes, the first to be carried on on a large seale, and it has been estimated that; 'more than 10,000,0000z are'annually consumed for plating purposes. ... -

Chromium. ClirOuiium. is the latest addition, to the electroplater's' art, - and it, calls for more than, ordinary skill ion -th# part of the plater. The generators used * have to be of very large capacity compared with -those required for other plating processes. The current required is more than 10.0 amperes per square ; foot of the articles I in"- -plated. The use of chromium a'i a plating metal has been somewhat slow in development, due to the lifliculties experienced i refining, and controlling its apnlication, under industrial conditions. During; the last years trerncriaous strides ; have been made "in auapting this reniaykable metal to commercial use. Articles -formerly . nickel plated* butdiscontinued -on account of tarnish or stain "in'favour of enamel, and lacquer finishes :; are: now being adapted, to chromium;'-with rej rkable improvement in appearance, quality of -fiiiisHj 'and usefulness. In 1867 Siemens and Wheatstone both i rodui ' improveu uyi.: mor -•! from that date the advance has been continuous, culminating in .ue magnificent machines, silent and mighty, of the present day.