ELECTRICITY “CUT”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27081, 16 May 1949, Page 4

ELECTRICITY “CUT”

Failure of Generator at Waitaki

RADIATOR RESTRICTION

The failure of one of the 15,000-kilowatt generators at the Waitaki power house was announced on Saturday by the general manager of the State Hydro-electricity Department, Mr A. E. Davenport, and, in his capacity of Electricity Controller, Mr Davenport ordered power cuts affecting the whole of the South Island, except Nelson and Marlborough, to meet the emergency. The chairman of the Dunedin City Council Electricity Committee, Cr L. M. Wright, announced on Saturday the extent of the “cut” to be imposed in the area supplied by the City Electricity Department. To obtain the necessary saving, he said, the use of all electric radiators would be prohibited between 11 a.m. and mid-day, and between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., from Monday to Friday inclusive. These restrictions would come into force to-day, he said, They apply to the whole of the City Electricity Department’s area, which includes Port Chalmers, the Peninsula, and the Taieri, as well as the Dunedin area. The secretary of the Otago Electric Power Board, Mr L. W. Potter, said last night that his board had not yet considered the situation that had arisen, but he would make a statement to the Daily Times to-day. The Waitaki Electric Power Board has requested its consumers to limit their use of electricity as much as possible between 11 a.m. and noon, and from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. daily from Monday to Friday. The use of all electric radiators during these hours is prohibited.

The fault in the generator at Waitaki was caused by an accidental leakage of water into the generator from its turbine, says a Press Association message from Christchurch. Automatic apparatus immediately cut out the generator and stopped the flow of water to the turbine, preventing further damage. Mr Davenport, with the district engineer of the department, Mr W. H. Gregory, was on the West Coast when news of the failure reached him. Both officers left immediately for Waitaki. Mr Davenport’s statement covering the emergency was released through the department’s despatch office in Christchurch, which controls the whole South Island load. The statement, addressed to all South Island supply authorities except those in Nelson and Marlborough, which get power from their own schemes, reads: “It is regretted that there has been a winding failure on one of the original generators at the Waitaki power station. This has caused a temporary loss of 15.000 kilowatts of peak capacity. The failure appears to have been caused by an accidental leakage of water from the turbine. To meet this emergency you are hereby directed to take immediate steps to limit the peak load so as not to exceed that for the corresponding period of 1948. “This applies between the hours of 11 a.m. and noon, and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Monday to Friday inclusjye. As soon as the extent of the damage is knovvn the duration of the emergency will be advised. I suggest that the reduction in load might he effected by a complete ban on the use of radiators during peak hours.” The Waitaki station has five 15,000 kilowatt units, the latest being put into service early in April. When the station was put into service in 1931 it. had only two units, two more were operating by 1941 and the war delayed the installation of the fifth unit. While an indication of the damage cannot be given until the generator is taken down, it is possible that if the fault is in the actual windings the repair work may take several weeks. It is understood that spare coils are kept at Waitaki in readiness for jqst such a breakdown, but the task of installing them would be a long one because of the size of the machine and the long, involved process of taking down and reassembling.