ELECTRICITY SUPPLY.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 August 1920, Page 4

ELECTRICITY SUPPLY.

DEVELOPMENT IN BRITAIN. ; AN IMPETUS TO INDUSTRY. The" extent to which electricity has developed in England of late was touched on by Sir Arnold Gridley, K.8.E., new | visiting New Plymouth, in the coune of ;an interview. Sir Arnold is well qualified to speak on such a'subject, hating been, up to the time be left England, chief electrical officer to the Imperial Govcrnment, and is now representing the English Electric Company, who have secured the contract for. the electrification of the Otira tunnel. • " Sir Arnold states that before the war had been in progress many weeks it became evident that it would involve a. ■.struggle in the application of engineering 'cience in every branch Of untitle. As hostilities continued, the call Upon the brains and inventive genius of engineers became even mora insistent. Extensions to existing engineering factories and workshops, and the construction of new factories, many of them national, were rapidly planned and competed. The directing heads of many linns were called in to advise Government Departments, in particular tie Ministry of Munitions. The equipping of different factories was done at an amazing speed, which was facilitated by the fact that so many of the PuWi'c Service undertakings were'able to deal with the additional load by running two or three ..electricity generating : plants, including reserves, until such time ae the stations could be extended. ' l SPEEDING MUNITIONS. ; '' In numerous caaeg valuable time was saved, and munitions of war made available for both the army and navy three inonths earlier than otherwise: would have been possible. Electrical equipment for factories was inralled much more rapidly than power-producing plant could be manufactured and erected; and although the electric supply undertakings took risks in running all their generating plant, it was felt by the GoVeJßment that this was a legitimate war risk, even if the supply of. current for domestic purposes was thereby jeopardised. « Some 140 power-houses were ijuflt or extended, and the plant capacity of each power-house was doubled, ag was also the output of electricity. That'ig to say, in the four years required to complete these developments the progress made' exceeded that of the preceding 32 voara. Speaking of the future, Sir Arnold said the Electricity Bill passed by the House of Commons, ut the end of last year provides for the appointment of five elec-' i tvicity commissioners, the function of whom shall be to direct and guide the future development of power supply on national instead of parochial lines. The general object of the new scheme % to do away with all small and uneconomical stations, to maintain, aid, if necessary, to extend the larger stations .it present in existence, and in future to establish power-houses at least twice the size of any existing to-day is Great Britain.

MAIN TRANSMISSION LINES. ; All the old parochial boundaries are to be done away with, ho far as the, generation of power is concerned. It is now possible for a large number of municipalities to group themselves in order to promote the "big scheme," w for companies and municipalises to combine for a similar purpose. The power would be obtained by means of coal flwd generating stations, and there was a probability that coal carbonisation' plants would be erected alongside some of the modern power plants in the same building, and the spare gas or semi-ook© would be used as fuel, thereby cheapening the coal cost per unit of power generated. As the scheme definitely develops, the intention is that now power-house transmission lines will be so plaoed that the railways can be electrified anywhere in the country "by tie simple methods of tapping the transmission cables, and the cities and the rural distrtcti Will be able to obtain a good supply of cheap power. "There is no question," said Sit Arnold, "that the reorganisation «f &* transport power supply system in Great Britain is most urgently needed tuitt the Government's reconstruction toll MM. It directly affects everything, Mfll Mm sooner it is reorganised tho hetfar ii will be for the industries and ttaMM*. merce of the country." /