MERCER STATION READY

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28661, 11 August 1958, Page 10

MERCER STATION READY

First Commercial Power Today * (New Zealand Press Association) ' AUCKLAND, August 10. The Minister of State Electricity (Mr Watt) today inspected the £l6 million Mercer steam power station which is expected to begin feeding commercial power into the North Island grid tomorrow Mr Watt watched engineers begin final boiler tests and he postponed a fligh' back to Wellington until tomorrow morning to see the first boiler fired with powdered coal this evening. At noon tomorrow, the chief resident engineer at Mercer (Mr J. W. Marshall) will telephone the general manager of the State Hydro-electric Department (Mr A. E. Davenport) and report lastminute '‘progress.

Once a full head of steam is agfain raised, safety valves pass tests and-a'general check proves satisfactory, Mercer will join the network on commercial load either late in the afternoon or early in the evening. The first official station staff shift, under the station superintendent (Mr G. Johnson), began today. Although the first of the six 30.000-k.w generators and its turbine have been tested and can be brought up to load in two or three hours, engineers will run it in gently and may build up its output over two or three days. A second generator will be cut <n within a week. i