HYDRO-ELECTRIC LINE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22433, 1 June 1936, Page 11

HYDRO-ELECTRIC LINE

WEST COAST SUPPLY ADVANTAGES OF THE SCHEME f3T TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] WELLINGTON. Saturday. Interviewed to-day, the Minister of Public .Works, the Hon. R. Semple, amplified in some particulars the report he made a day or so ago in regard to the supply of power on the West Coast. He stated the transmission line from Coleridge to a central point on the coast was estimated to cost £145,000 and for the load in sight in the immediate future he allowed an additional £20,000. To provide a limited amount of distribution this main line would be a double-circuit one, operating at 66,000 volts and have a load capacity of about 15,000 kilowatts. The line had an additional advantage in that it would make it possible to supply hvdro power to the railway electrification at Arthur's Pass tunnel. Surveys which had been carried out on the coast indicated that a similar amount of power could not be obtained at the same price from local sources. Under the circumstances, said the ilinister, he had no hesitation in recommending Cabinet to adopt the transmission proposal, which would provide a larger amount of power at considerably less cost. This project had the additional advantage that once it was established it would give much greater value to the potentialities of local schemes which would undoubtedly be required at some later date.