NO POWER CUTS NEEDED

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27688, 18 June 1955, Page 6

NO POWER CUTS NEEDED

i REDUCTION IN PEAK LOAD : HIGHBANK STATION OUT OF OPERATION Although the 25,000-kilowatt power i station at Highbank on the Rakaia- ; river was out of operation to allow 1 ? repair work to begin in the tail-race, Ihe remainder of the generating equipment on the main South Island system was able to carry the tea-hour peak i load last evening. i The assistant district engineer of the .[State Hydro-electric Department (Mr i E. E. James) said last evening that i although the actual peak load figure i would not be available until this morni ing, as far as could be estimated it t appeared that it had been about 16,000’ • kilowatts less than normal. This was no doubt because a great many consumers had cut off electrical appliances, ( ;as they had been requested to do, and .( toe department was grateful to them; • At the same time, however, the stations > Were loaded to the limit of their over--1 toad capacity. Had the reduction not i. been made, they would have bee# • Hopelessly overloaded, he said. > Appeals to consumers throughout the ( South Island, apart from Marlborough ’ and Nelson, were broadcast three times ; yesterday afternoon. Consumers were asked to turn off water heaters and all' > other appliances that were not abso- • lutely necessary during the critical : period between 4.30 p.m. and 6 p.m. “No doubt the good weather and the, co-operation of consumers enabled the plant to carry the load,” said the engineer-manager of the Municipal t Electricity Department (Mr J C . Forsyth) last evening reporting that . no cuts had been needed in the depart- [ ment’s district. The department had > planned to cut off consumers in the ; western part of Area A (St. Albans) if I c ~ ts x, had ? ecom e necessary, and to cut c off the whole of that area should the need arise.

Work at Highbank The Highbank* power station was closed at noon yesterday to allow work to begin m the tail-race. The con-crete-faced bank of the tail-race was damaged for a distance of about 50 feet a fortnight ago, when a system caused a relief valve to open. The jet of water, which was diverted from the machinery, apparently found a weakness m the bank and cut into it to a depth of up to 12 feet and as high as 12 feet.

During the week-end a steel-faced concrete deflector block will be placed m position to deflect the jet from the relief valve, should it open again, towards the centre of the race so that it will not strike the bank. Temporary boulder protection will be given to the damaged portion of the bank, which will be permanently repaired later. Yesterday morning, water storage for power generation was close to the record level of 209.300.000 units in February of last year. At 9 a.m. yesterday it stood at 208,990,000 units, representing a gain of 560,000 units in the preceding 24-hour period. It is doubtful whether there will be much further gain in storage in the immediate future, as yesterday morning the weather ranged from calm and clear to calm and light cloud.