Filling Of Karapiro Not Started Yet

Northern Advocate, 3 April 1947, Page 5

Filling Of Karapiro Not Started Yet

(Special ) CAMBRIDGE, This Day. The filling of Karapiro lake has still not been commenced.

The main cause of the present delay is the slight misalignment of a steel guide to one of the penstock gates and although this was expected to be corrected by last night,.all the other gate fittings will be rechecked carefully in case similar faults have occurred elsewhere.

It is possible that as soon as this is done the gate in the diversion tunnel will be lowered without further warning.

It should be only two or three weeks after the lake begins to form when the first 30,000 kilowatt unit starts to deliver power to the North Island system.

Certain tests of the turbine and generator have to be carried out, but they will not be prolonged and unless some serious fault develops the effect of the Karapiro output will be felt rather earlier than generally expected. HOLLAND’S INSPECTION

“Every person in New Zealand should be grateful to the engineering staff and the men who carried out the building of this dam,” said the Leader of the Opposition (Mr S. G. Holland), in an interview after a tour of Karapiro dam with members of the construction staff yesterday afternoon. “They have done a magnificent job, which has to be seen to be believed.” “I came to look around the Waikato hydro-electric scheme to get first-hand information of the electricity supply question, which has an effect on every household in the country,” he said.

“With Mr W. S. Goosman, M.P. for Piako, and Mr G. F. Sim, M.P. for Waikato. I have been shown the scheme from beginning to end, and I would like to pay tribute to the quality of the workmanship and the spirit of cooperation between management and men.”

Even with the coming into operation of Karapiro, however, the people of New Zealand could not look forward to having their power requirements satisfied for a considerable time, said Mr Holland. It was obvious that the demand had already outstripped the supply, and there was a danger of the future needs growing at a greater rate than the proposed increase in installations. University Benefits

The engineering and physics departments of Auckland University College will benefit by the closing of Horahora power station this week. Several items of electrical equipment which if is intended to salvage will be donated to the college by the Government.

Following a recent visit to Horahora by Professor T. D. J. Leech, a motor generator which converts alternating current from the station's turbines to direct current for the power house crane will be sent to the engineering school. Frofessor P. W. Burbidge has also been to Horahora and has selected some high-voltage equipment for the physics department. Further machinery with an historical rather than a practical value will be donated to Canterbury University College, and several technical colleges might receive a share of the salvaged plant. Nelson Affected

The electriciay supply position in Nelson and Marlborough continues to deteriorate and today a 20 per cent, reduction in consumption was ordered by the State Hydro-Electric Department. In the city water heater hours have been reduced to six daily and a warning has been given residents in the Waimea Electric-Power Board’s area, which includes residential suburbs and Motueka, that short blackout periods are liable to be instituted without notice between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. The flow in the river supplying the Cobb hydro station is falling steadily and the shortage of coal for the auxiliary steam plant in Nelson has made the position serious. Stark Fact

Unless the Government ordered all supply authorities in the North Island to reduce their load by 30 per cent, immediately, the whole electrical system would suffer a most serious breakdown within a fortnight, said Mr A. Main, general manager of the Waitemata Electric-Power Board, in a statement last night. That was a stark, inescapable fact, he added. It would mean that whole districts, and including all industry and transportation services, would be cut at least 30 per cent., continued Mr Main. The dairying season was nearly finished and that industry would have to carry on as best it could. ‘ Today, not tomorrow, we are faced with a power crisis of extreme national gravity, and Government action must be swift. Fiddling around making people disconnect their electric water heaters to get loads reduced will, by their using other appliances, shortly intensify the loading on an already overloaded system, making for a longer and more serious total collapse.'