Cheap power for some industries

Press, 21 March 1979, Page 18

Cheap power for some industries

PA , Rotorua Special temporary cheap electricity rates for certain industries have been foreshadowed by the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon). Opening the new Win-stone-Samsung pulp mill at Karioi, near Waiouru, Mr Muldoon disclosed that short-term relief from the new electricity prices taking effect on April 1 is being considered for “major energy-intensive industrial users involved in exporting.” He gave no further details, but the biggest ovious beneficiaries from such a concession would be the four main pulp mills — the Tasman plant at Kawerau, N.Z. Forest Products’ facilities at Kinleith, the Panpac mill at Wharinaki, near Napier, and the Karioi plant itself. The five biggest electrcity consumers in New Zealand last year were the Kawerau, Kinleith and Whirinaki mills, the Comaico aluminium smelter at Bluff, and New Zealand Steel, Ltd, near Auckland. All, with the possible exception of New Zealand Steel, which supplies a mainly internal market, could be described as “major energy-intensive industrial users involved in exporting.” However, officials were

unable to say what other industries might be involved or how long the “temporary” concession might last. The concession could be modelled on the 25 per cent discount which will be available from April 1 for new manufacturing plant in the South Island. In that case, the discount is available only where a new plant will use at least $5OOO a year of electricity, or where expansion of existing plant will use at least an extra $lO6O worth of electricity. The Karioi mill is the first major new forestrybased facility since the Pan-Pacific mill at Whirinaki started production in 1973. It will draw its timber from the Karioi State Forest and from another forest developed by the State on Maori leasehold land near Lake Taupo. It has a capacity 70,000 tonnes of pulp a year, compared with Kawerau’s capacity 540,000 tonnes, Kinleith’s 431,000 tonnes and Whirinaki’s 245,000 tonnes. About 70 per cent of its output will be exported to Korea’s Chonju paper company, whose president (Mr T. S. Park) also attended the opening ceremony.