GOVERNMENT ELECTRICITY

Taranaki Daily News, 10 March 1932, Page 11

GOVERNMENT ELECTRICITY

BULK SUPPLY TO NEW- PLYMOUTH. NO DANGER OF SHORTAGE NOW. . Electricity generated at the inent power stations at Waikaremoana and Mangahad. is now coming through t-> the New Plymouth municipal system over the permanent lines. The major part of the supply at a pressure of 50,000 volts first came through on the night of Marell 1, although prior to that the council had been drawing on this source over a temporary means of supply via the Hawera sub-station. The standing contract, by which the borough will take 1000 kilowatts‘-of Government power continuously, has not come into force at present, but will do so shortly. The power is available, however, and has already been used up to the. amount mentioned, as little rain has fallen for some time and the lake is low. It is stated that there should now be no danger of a shortage of power in the area supplied from New Plymouth, even in very dry weather. With the two sources of supply the council will be able to regulate the draw-off from the la.ke, so that its level need never be unduly reduced. This will be accomplished by using almost all Government power during the period of low load in the early hours of the morning, thus allowing the level of water to build up for peak load times. The recent duplication of the pipe line from the forebay to the power-house turbines has made it possible to take full advantage of all water drawn from the lake. In addition, it is proposed to instal at the power-house a new 1000 kilowatt turbo-generator. This has already been tested with satisfactory results. It will mean that should there be a failure of the Government supply, the power-house plant will be. capable of carrying the whole of the load for a period, if necessary, on the power derived from the Mangamahoe lake. This new unit will also enable the present generators, which have been in service for over seven years, to be stopped and overhauled. The Taranaki Daily News some weeks ago published an account of the work that has been going on for two years in connection with the change-over in the local system from 6600 volts to an 11,000-volt capacity.