No Licences Required For Most Generators

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30919, 27 November 1965, Page 7

No Licences Required For Most Generators

No special licences are required for private electricity generating plants, and there are many commercial undertakings in New Zealand which supply at least part of their own power load, says the Minister of Electricity (Mr Shand) in reply to a correspondent, Patrick Neary. The correspondent referred to an article on power usage in New Zealand which appeared in “The Press” on November 2. He said: “Mr Lush’s article deserves some official comment, as many electors do not realise there is such a tight control of private generating plants. In Britain it is not uncommon for private firms to generate a proportion of their total power needs and to take what is necessary from the supply authority. When large quantities of lowpressure steam are used in, say, a chemical process, it is reckoned to be particularly economical to use relatively high-pressure steam expansively through steam turbine alternators before passing the low-pressure steam to the plant for heating purposes. There are operational problems, but from my personal experience these are not serious and are not beyond solution with modern equip-

ment. I know of at least one large company in New Zealand which operates it own pcwer supply, supplements its supply from the national link, and also operates a peak-load diesel generating plant to “iron out” peak demand. The important point is that there seems to have been no attempt to explain the N.Z.E.D. point of view as a follow up to the article, and surely this aspect is important for good public relations.” “The licences referred to in Mr Lush’s article are those for plants using water power. Each year a number of licences are issued for small private hydro-electric plants although mostly for installation in areas remote from public supply,” Mr Shand said.

“The fees payable for such licences are only intended to cover some of the very considerable costs involved in investigations necessary to ensure that the rights of other potential users of water are safe-guarded. It would take more time than I have at my disposal to discuss the many interesting points raised in Mr Lush's article, and I have confined my comments to the matters mentioned by the present correspondent.”