HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 15956, 18 October 1922, Page 11

HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER.

WATKAREMOANA SCHEME FURTHER DELAYED. WELLINGTON, last night. The following refereu'e to hydroelectric power is made by Hon. J. Ci. Coates -in his Public Works statement : Of the hydro-elect lie programme of ihe Government two schemes are now in operation—Lake Coleridge (12.000 h.p.), and Horahora (8.400 h.p.). These have both shown satisfactory results for the year, both having paid operating expenses, interest, and depreciation, and shown a margin towards reduction of the accumulated deficiency.

Lake Coleridge supply. The financial result of the year's operation is as follows: Capital outlay, £671,608, working expenses. £25.911, interest, £20.981. depreciation. £8.424. total annual cost. £55,316. The revenue for the year amounted to £56.814, showing a net profit of £1,498. This amount was paid off the accumulated deficiency for the previous years of operation, which now stands at. a net debit ot £29,175.

Although the scheme is thus showing a profit on the accounts, no sinking fund is yet provided. In accordance with the State Supply of Electricity Act, 1917. under which these accounts are kept., a sinking fund of 1 per cent, must be set up as soon as there are available profits out of which to pay it. Had this sinking fund been paid last year it would have converted the profit of £1,498 into a loss om £4.458. and had it been paid from the inception the of the undertaking it would have increased tbs accumulated deficiency on the net revenue account by £29,855. Thus, although the results are satisfactory, they are not such as to justify any reconsideration of the standard scale of charges until the sinking fund is provided for. Put (he savings effected by consumers are vevy much greatei that the revenue received by the Department. To supply the same output as was supplied from Addington sub-station (33,947,100 units) by means of a modern highly efficient steam station would have taken 45,500 tons of coal—nearly 150 tons per day. But the actual fuel saved as compared with the consumption of the hundreds of small engines used throughout the district before the advent of electric power is three to five times this amount.

The operation of the plant was carried out satisfactorily during the year. Trouble with two of the turbine-cases caused sorri" difficulty, and rendered it necessary to fall back on the steam reserve maintained by the Christchurch Tramway Board for a few weeks, but with the hearty co-operation of the consumers all the essential services were maintained in spite of the shortage of power.

Insulator troubles are still frequent, but show an improvement as compared with the previous year, as the orginal insulators purchased in 1912 are replaced by a more modern type, and considerable credit is due to the staff for maintaining the service under the circumstances with such immunity from breakdown. The replacement of the insulators and of the aluminium wire by copper wire will be completed during the current year, and should ensure greater freedom from interruptions. The main work during the year was the extension of the plant capacity from 8,000 h.p.. to 12,000 b.p. by the addition of a new 4,000 h.p. unit with necessary switch-gear and pipe-line. This was completed and put into service at the. end of the financial year, and its influence on the financial returns will not be realised until next year. A furthei 4,000 h.p. unit is in hand, which will bring the plant up to the full capacity of the existing tunnel arid power-house building. This will enable the output to be increased to 16.000 h.p., and will render available a limited supply of 1.000 h.p. reserved for Ashburton, Timaru, and South Canterbury. The transmission-line for this purpose is well in hand. Supply was given during tin .year to Banks Peninsula and SpringsEllesmcrc Electric Power Boards. In cider to obtain the necessary, additional supply of water for these and future extensions the Harper river is being diverted into the lake, and the per. manent, works for this purpose have now been completed. In order to provide for further extensions up to the full requirements of the district—viz., 36,000 h.p.—the survey has been carried Out for a. second tunnel, lift, in diameter, and plans are in hand for the extension of the powerhouse by the addition of two 10,000.h.p. units, with further provision for a third unit of the same capacity when required. ♦WAIKATO ELECTRIC POWER SUPPLY.

The- Horahora. power plant has now completed its second year of service since it was taken over from the Waihi ftold Mining Company, and the financial results are as follows:—Capital outlay. £353.807. Working expenses, £7,986. interest, £13,187, depreciation, £4.512: total costs, £25,685.

The revenue tor the year was £28,207. showing a net profit of £2,522, as coinpared with a loss for the previous yea; of £6,282. This result is largely due to' the increased revenue received from the mines and dairy factories. In addition, supply has been given to Hamilton Borough'and to four Electric Power Hoards— viz., Thames Valley, Cambridge, Central, and To Awamutu. For this purpose the transmission lines have been extended for sixty-seven miles. The maximum load at power-house during the year was 5,800 lew. out of the plant capacity of 6,300 kw., biifc this has since been reduced owing to a temporary reduction of the mining load. But, again, as\ in the case of Lake Coleridgo! no sinking fund has been provided, and this, had it been paid, would have convented this profit into a loss of £59. The operation of the power-house and transmission lines during the year has been carried on satisfactorily. 1 In order to provide for the normal increase in the demand, contracts have been placed for two additional generat-ing-units of 2,000 kw. each, which will bring the full power-house' capacity np to K-. 200 kw., or 14,000 h.p., which it is ;-nucipated will be fully loaded up before the Arapuni works are completed. The headworks and power-house <?xtcn : sions to accommodate these additional units are now in hand. MANGAHAO SUPPLY.

" In addition .to the two plants in actual operation,'work is in hand at Mangahao, Arapuni, arid Waikaremoana.: At Mangahao substantial progress lias been made with the excavation and lining of the two main tunnels, the by-pass tunnel for the Mangahao ! dam, the excavation of the Mangahao and Arapcti dams, the foundations for the powerhouse, and with the transmission lines to Wellington. For the supply of the necessary materials thirty-five contracts, amounting' in all to £277,000, have been placed. The installations when completed will have a capacity of 24,000 h.p., which is the full capacity of the available supply of water. The distribution of the power will be entrusted to Wellington City and seven Electric Power. Boards which have been constituted for the purpose. Each of these 'Power Roards is making good progress. The power will, of course, be supplied to the districts which are first ready to take supply, ami, obviously, power cannot bd held idle for any district unless it is paid for. Hut on (he basis of all being ready to take up their rjuotn on tho completion of the headworks and distribution lines the following allocation, has been made: —Wellington City and district, 12,000 horse-power, Hutt Valley Electric Power Board 2,000, Horowhenua Electric Power Boßard 1,200 j Manawatn Electric Power Board 3,300, Rangitikei Electric Power Board 1,800, Wairarapa Electric Power Board 2,000, Tararna Electric Rower Board 1,000, Dnnnevirke Electric Power Board 1,300.

Negotiations are now in hand for tlio contract for the supply ' fn Wellington

City, but the Power Boards have not yet entered into negotatious for their supply contracts. The above allocations amount to about one in ten of the population—approximately the same proportion as the output of' the Lake Coleridge and Waipori plans bears to tho population of the districts supplied. It is therefore anticipated that Mangahao will be fully loaded to the same extent, as those plants now are within a very few years of the inception of supply, and that it will then become necessary to supplement the supply by joining up with Waikaremoana. ARAPUNI SUPPLY.

The Arapuni scheme stands on a different footing to the others that have. previously been put in hand ill New Zealand in that it cannot be developed to advantage in stages to meet- the load as it grows. Owing to the largo dam and the heavy headworks, this scheme cannot pay until the output reaches about 36,000 h.p., and the only district which could offer a. sufficient demand to ensure this load being leached in the early future is Auckland City. But the City Council had recently arranged to consolidate and increase its steam plant, to 26,000 h.p., and it was necessary, therefore, before putting the Arapuni works in hand whether the city intended to take power from Arapuni when available, or to continue to operate its steam plant. A contract was therefore negotiated providing for the .supply to the city from the Arapuni works, and this contract has been completed by the Auckland Electric Power Board, which in the meantime was formed to take over the whole electric supply of at least 15,000 kw. (20.000 h.p.) in 1&28, when it is anticipated that the Arapuni woi'ks will be" ready to supply, the Board building up its load to this or such greater demand jus may be available in the meantime by means of its steam plant. In the meanwhile the surveys and preliminary works at Arapuni have been put in hand.. WAIKAREMOANA SUPPLY.

This power-station will be required in the early future, mainly to supplement the demand for power from Mangahao power station, and the proposal is to then provide an installation of 40,000 h.p. In the meanwhile the exciter units of the large plant consitsing of two 500 h.p. water-wheels coupled to 350 kw. alternators and direct-current generators are being installed in a temporary power-house, and will'be. utilised at once for supply to the Wairoa Electric Power Board up* to a capacity of 750 h.p.,'the balance of 250 h.p. being reserved for the construct ion of the main works. In order to reduce the overhead expenses an arrangement has been entered into to lease the plant to the Power Board, who will operate and manage it by means of its own staff, thus keeping the operating cost" at a minimum. In addition to the installation of this 1,000 h.p. plant which litis been completed, surveys for the main scheme have been pushed on, including a survey for a, .sawmill tram line and investigation of the foundations of the main power hounse. The necessary permanent road improvecmnt and new construction roads and bridges have also been carried on during the year accounting for the greater portion of the capital outlay hitherto incurred. Whilst these will not be required for the construction of the new works for sonic time, they will bo immediately useful in scrying to improve the access for the settlers of the district.

After dealing with the subject of Power Boards, the Minister proceeds:— ; LOCAL ELECTRIC-SUPPLY SYSTEMS In addition to the Government and Power Boards systems, the Department is responsible under the Public. Works Amendment Act, 1911, for the licensing and supervision of all the electric-supply systems Of the Dominion. The industry as a whole now involves a capital outlay of £5,224,629, and after paying working expenses and capital charges at an average rate of 5.85 per cent, it yielded a net profit of £82,688, or 1.6 per cent, additional on the capital outlay. Full details, are included in the tables herewith.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS. With regard to future developments, a programme was set out in my last annual statement covering' a total expenditure of £12,902,000 spread over a period of ten years, providing 260,000 h.p. and reaching a maximum rate of expenditure of £2,023,000 in 1925. The financial position has rendered it necessary to revise this programme in order to keep the annual expenditure per year, in the meanwhile, down to about £1,000,000. To do this it has been necessary to postpone for a couple of years the commencement, of the main works at Lake Waikaremoana, and to hold over a number of smaller developments in the South Island until the Power Boards, are contituted to deal .with the reticulation. At the same time the transmissiondines from the schemes to be proceeded with will be pushed on, in order to make the supply as general as possible within the capacity of the headworks at each site. With this object-- the mains from Lake Coleridge will be extended into Otago and North Canterbury, and from Mangahao to Wanganin and Napier, in addition to the lines already/ under construction. The revised programme herewith provides for' a slightly less total expenditure (£11,355,000) ' spread over a. longer period, and keeps for the first few years within the limit of £1,000,000" per annum. ELECTRIC POWER ORGANISATIONS The work involved in the development of the electric power resources' of the Dominion is outgrowing the present organisation as a. branch of the Public Works Department, and a special board or commissioner will be necessary in the early future to deal with the commercial, financial, and electrical and engineering problems involved. Owing to the financial stringency the appointment of this special board-has been postponed as long tis possible, but will be necessary in:the early future, and a careful noto is being kept of the development of the corresponding organisations in Grat Britain, Canada, and Victoria, where the work is undertaken by Electricity Commissioners; in Tasmania, where a- separate Hydro-electric Department has been set up; and in' New South Wales, where the organisation is carried out by ;l branch'of the Public Works Department; and the local proposals will be. based on those which ;ne proving most efficient elsewhere.