HYDRO POWER RESOURCES

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27794, 20 October 1955, Page 12

HYDRO POWER RESOURCES

FULL INVESTIGATION URGED CONSERVATION OF OIL AND COAL A comprehensive preliminary survey of all remaining potential hydroelectric resources, even relatively small schemes, of New Zealand was urged by the president of the New Zealand Electric Supply Authority Engineers’ Institute (Mr N. A. Ddvidson) last evening. The investigation would determine which schemes were capable of economic development, compared with fuel stations, he said. , . “While hydro resources remaining under-developed may be relatively small in relation to the total future requirements of the North Island, they could make a continuing useful contribution to the conservation of coal and supplement other .agencies,” Mr Davidson said. “Possibly more important, they can provide a supply of. electricity in remote areas where there is little immediate likelihood of a public supply.” Power system inter-connexion would cause a new evaluation of many schemes abandoned in the past after an initial survey, he continued. With new techniques of transport and construction and the transmission of energy, inaccessible water power sites now presented few difficulties. The energy contribution of a slow-flowing river might well be found to be entirely justifiable if adequate transmission capacity was available. Harnessing of rivers that once were considered uneconomical as independent units could now be considered in relation to a power network. “The perpetual supplies of energy available in falling water should be fully utilised to conserve exhaustible reserves of coal and oil,” Mr Davidson said. “Let none run to waste.” There was a possibility that installation of small hydro schemes in New Zealand isolated from the grid might be complementary to the work of the special rural reticulation committee investigating the supply to remote communities and settlers, he said. If water power licences were granted to supply authorities they could develop a number of medium and small schemes in their areas. The national system could not be materially affected and a lot of kilowatt hours would be made available to the people. Utilising streams to generate electricity would also assist soil conservation and river control by ’■educing erosion of bed and bank.