NEW ZEALAND.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 September 1924, Page 13

NEW ZEALAND.

A EULOGISTIC ARTICLE. “SWITZERLAND OF THE SOUTHED HEMISPHERE. HYDRO-ELECTRIC DEVELOPMENT. New Zealand is particularly favourably situated with respect to the available Water powers* and ba® appropriately been termed “The Switzerland of the Southern Hemisphere” (says the Financial News). Although the area of the Dominion is limited (’102,250 square miles in the two main islands), a large proportion consists of highlands and the mountains are lofty. Many of the mountain peaks range from 7000 to 10,000 -feet, and there are extensive plateaux at elevations of 1000 to 3000 feet abo-ve sealevel; On these highlands the rainfall and run-off are high, and the energy available in the water flowing from the higher to the lower levels is abundant. On the plain®, on the other hand, the rainfall, though ample, is not unduly heavy and the land is very productive. The total water power available in the Dominion in sources of 1000 h.p. or more is about 770,000 -h.p. in the North Island and 4,100,000 h.p. in the South Island. Unfortunately the largest blocks of power are situated in very inaccessible positions in the Southern Fiords, although fairly close to navigable rivers.

HISTORICAL. With such extensive resources in water power, attention was directed to ita development fairly early. In 1904 a full investigation was made and a comprehensive report was prepared iby the engineer-in-chief, Mr. P. S. Hay. describing* all the then known sources of power in the Dominion, amounting to 500,000 h.p. in the North Island and 3,000,000 h.p. in the South Island. At that time the power actually developed in the Dominion from all sources was estimated at 180,588 h.p., of which 9*911 h.p. was from water power. In 1903 the Water Power Act was passed, vesting in the Crown the sole right of developing any future water po*wer in the Dominion for the distribution or sale of electrical energy, thus to this extent separating the title to the water power from the title to the land. A landowner can still freely develop the water power on -his land for his own use. PRIVATE DEVELOPMENTS. The Public Works Amendment Act, 1908, authorised the Government to grant licenses to any person or body to develop water power under such conditions as may be laid down in the license, and a considerable number of such licenses have been issued from time to time since that date, mainly to local authorities and to a few private individuals and companies. Licenses have been issued to the Waihi Gold Mining Company for the development of Horahora rapids (-6300 kw.), and to three private companies and 21 local authorities for developments which are now in service, and to seven electric power boards for developments which are under construction.

Persistent demands were made for .some years that the Government should develop the power sou-roes of the Dominion .itself for the benefit of the people generally, and in 1910 the Aid t> Water Power Works Act was passed authorising the Government to borrow £500,000 for this purpose, and the Lake Coleridge scheme for the supply of Christchurch City and Canterbury Province was selected for development. Operations were commenced on these works in 1911 and completed in 1915, with a capacity of 4500 kw., which has since been extended to 12,000 kw. This scheme has proved thoroughly suece&sful. The demand will shortly exceed the capacity, and extensions to a total capacity of 27,000 kw. are under construction. Since the successful inauguration of the Lake Coleridge scheme & complete system was drawn -up of interconnected power system® in both the North and South Islands. In order to carry out the comprehensive scheme further authorities were granted by Parliament.

A very complete report and estimate of the demkind and cost of supply for the North Island was submitted by the chief electrical engineer, Mr. Evan Parry, B.Sc., etc., in October, 1918. After a full discussion of the use of electricity in the Dominion he assessed the demand at l-sth h.p. (.15 kw.) per total power required, allowing for head of population, and estimated the losses, at 150,000 h.p. in the North Island and 110,000 h.p. in the South Island. This has been adopted as the basis of the Government scheme. For the North Island it is proposed to develop this in three main stations — namely, Mangahao (24,000 h.p.), Lake i Waikaremo-ana (40,000 h.p., capable of extension to 1-30,000 h.p.), and the Arapuni rapids on the Waikato river (96,000 h.p., capable of extension' to 1-60,000 h.p.). These three power-sta-tions are to be ultimately interconnected by a complete system of 110,000 volt lines for a total length of 112 miles, with 309 miles of branch mains at 50,000 and 33,000 volts. A TEN YEARS’ PROGRAMME. It was estimated that the programme would take ten years to develop, and that the total annual charges, when completed, allowing 7| per cent, to cover interest, depreciation and sinking fund, and £'220,000 per annum for working expenses, would amount to £707*728 —'that is, practically £'6 per h.p,, or £8 per kilowatt-yea.r.

It is estimated that this scheme, when in full operation, will effect a .■ living of 1,000,000 tens of coal per year out of a total annual consumption of 2 490,000 tons in the whole Dominion. On the same basis, 110,009 h.p. is also required in the South Island, and towards this developments are in hand. FINANCIAL RESULTS. Including large and small stations, there are now 31 hydro-electrio po'wer plants in operation in New Zealand.

On March 31, 1923, the total installed capacity of hydro-electric power was 29,386 kw., representing 51.1 per cent, of the total electric power installed in the Dominion. The maximum load during the year amounted to 29,-995 k*w. —that is, slightly in excess of the total installed capacity, most of the stations operating on overload. The annual load factor of. the whole system amounted to 48.6 per cent. The unite generated from water

power amounted tn> ,127 J27J820 and the. ■units sold to 105,974,7'58. The total, capital outlay, including distribution, amounted to £4,340,177, or £l4B per kilowatt installed. The total annual working costs, including revenue for the year, amounted to £69'2,069 —that is, 1.36 d per unit, or £8 10s per kilowatt. The annual capital charges amounted to £271 s 'ss3—that is O.OSd per unit, or £9 per kilowatt-year, a rate of 6.3 per cent, of the capital outlay. The gross annual retail revenue -for the year amounted to £602,06® —that is, 1.36-d per -unit, or £2O per kilowatt, and the net profits, after paying all expenses, amounted to £7'6X5'72. As compared with this, the average selling price for steam stations for the year ended March 31, 1923, was 3.38 d per unit, or £30.1 per kilowatt of maximum load. The load factor of the steam stations was, of course, lower than that of the water stations. The industry as a whole is thus in a very sound position