Explosion expensive

Press, 13 July 1976, Page 14

Explosion expensive

PA " New Plymouth Repairs to the New Plymouth power station chimney which was damaged by an explosion last week are epected to take six months and cost tens of thousands of dollars. And this will only be part of the bill for getting the station back into full working order after the explosion which ripped open the No. 4 boiler last Tuesday. The boiler itself will need extensive repairs. There are likely to be delays in commissioning the No. 5 unit. The fuel bill for the three units still working is soaring with a temporary ban on gas use.

Estimates were made by Mr H. Kennedy, of Wellington, a senior design engineer with the Ministry of Works and Development, which is responsible for civil engineering work at the power station.

Mr Kennedy does not think it will be necessary to recall the German specialists who supervised -the construction of the chimney; the main repairs could be done by New Zealand contractors.

The original suppliers of the chimney bricks could have some ready within a month, but some other supplies, such as insulating materials, would have to be imported, Mr Kennedy said. The cost of generating electricity at the power station has risen dramatically since oil was reintroduced. A spokesman for the New Zealand Electricity Department in Wellington said oil was about five times more expensive than gas. Oil costs about $9O a tonne and each unit consumes 30.6 tonnes an hour on full load.

This cost is compounded because without the increased draw-off of gas for the power station, condensate production at Kapuni for refining at Marsden Point is only a quarter of the preexplosion output. No exact figures could be obtained but before gas was used as a power station fuel about 18,000 tonnes of condensate was shipped each month. This has risen to a peak of four tankers a month averaging loads of just under 18,000 tonnes each.