The Press MONDAY, MARCH 4, 1957. Optimistic Reports On Power Development

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28217, 4 March 1957, Page 8

The Press MONDAY, MARCH 4, 1957. Optimistic Reports On Power Development

The favourable reports of the consultants on the Cook Strait cable and geothermal power development explain why the Minister of Works (Mr Goosman) has already hinted that both projects will be adopted. The thermal area of the North Island has apparently a satisfactory potential even on a conservative basis, with interesting opportunities for the use of hot water as well as steam. In spite of novel construction problems, production costs are expected to be much lower than those for coal-burning stations, though, of course, higher than those for economic hydro stations. In fact, unit cost predictions are rather lower than seem to have been expected. The other report suggests that the Cook Strait power cable is likely to be a cheaper proposition than was hoped when if was first mooted. The consultants have complete confidence in the feasibility of using direct current, the technical advantages of which are almost overshadowed by the saving in expense. The consultants are optimistic about both the relatively good conditions they expect on the seabed and the feasibility (after further trials) of devising a special cable. Provided forward estimates of the demand for electricity in the North Island are sound (and the State Hydro-electric Department and the supply authorities are not likely to over-estimate the demand), both projects appear economical in spite of their large capital cost. The difference between the two projects is that the geo-

thermal development will produce power while the cable will transmit power generated at stations yet to be built. The interest of the South Island in the cable should not be reluctance to see electricity transferred to the North Island, but vigilance to ensure that this is not done at the expense of South Island users. The Government’s plans for generating electricity in the South Island to meet demands all over New Zealand have yet to be revealed; but some information should be given soon. A start on the construction of the Benmore station on the Waitaki river is proposed this year to provide power for delivery by cable to the North Island. Within a year or two another station should be under way to meet South Island needs, as the department has promised, though the site has not yet been chosen. The second stage of the Cook Strait cable, not many years later, will require still more generating capacity in the South Island. The construction of these stations and their transmission lines will mean a great expenditure of public money in the South Island; but the biggest benefit the South Island will get from th 4 expenditure is sharing in the economic growth of the whole Dominion, which the cable will permit. A minor advantage in the linking of the two islands will come from the ability to balance the differing generating conditions of the two systems. The South Island has its own reasons to be gratified by the practicability, at a reasonable, cost, of the interisland cable.