Level of Manapouri 'not causing crisis’

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33510, 16 April 1974, Page 14

Level of Manapouri 'not causing crisis’

'.Xrir Zealand INVERCARGILL. April 15. The present power crisis would not have been avoided b\ an agreement on raising the level of Lake Manapouri. because when the project was originally discussed, there were no plans to raise the level until about 198(1, said the manager of the Electricity Department (Mr P. W. Blakeley) this evening.

.Mr Blakeley was commentine on an Auckland report of a former chairman of the Waitemata Electric Power Board (Mr F. Claxton) saying that people would prefer to see the lake raided than be short of power. Mr Claxton said there would have been 350 m units of electricity available to meet the power crisis had the lake level been raised. Mr Blakeley said the lake could never have been raised bv this winter, and it was not intended for the Manapouri

pow r er station to work off a higher head of water for several years. TRIAL DAM “The present broad-base dam was built for control at the lake s natural level, for a trial period, and then eventually an extension of the dam would ha' e been proceeded with, had it been agreed to raise the level.” Mr Blakeley said he did not want to be drawn into the controversy on whether the lake should have been raised, but he said there was inly an element of truth in Mr Claxton’s statement that because of the lower level 5

ner cent of the water going through the power station was being wasted. Friction in the tail-race tunnel had reduced electricity output, and the loss was higher than expected. Mr Blakeley agreed that a greater head of water could be used more effectively in generating electricity, but he said it was problematical whether a lower head meant less efficiency.