Japan Interested In N.Z.’s Geothermal Power

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29008, 24 September 1959, Page 12

Japan Interested In N.Z.’s Geothermal Power

(New Zeatana Press Association)

WELLINGTON, September 23. The geothermal generating station at Wairakei has created enough interest overseas to bring about the visit of a high-ranking Japanese Government official. He is Mr Hisashi Harada, Director of the Secretariat of the Science and Technics Agency, Prime Minister’s Office, Tokyo. “I received information from the New Zealand Ambassador in Tokyo that geothermal power was being produced on a profitable basis in New Zealand, and I’m here to see how it’s done,” he said today. Japan had no definite plans or ideas for geothermal power generation, and a lot depended on what he found during his short stay in New Zealand. “There were several attempts to get electric power from geothermal bores in Japan about 30 years ago, and in 1951 a Government agency succeeded in generating 30 kilowatts, but no substantial development has taken place since then,” Mr Harada said. Japan hoped to start a geothermal station at Beppu. a hot spring resort in north Kiushiu. There was no assurance that the project would succeed, and for this reason he wanted all the data he could gain in New Zealand, he said. “At present there is no shortage

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of power in Japan, but with the growth of industry an increased supply wiU be needed.

“Stations would be privately owned, but the Government backed research to get them started.” Mr Harada will leave for Wairakei tomorrow, after completing discussions with members of Government departments.