POWER SUPPLY

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23315, 26 September 1945, Page 4

POWER SUPPLY

■ North Island Position i No Improvement In Sight i Restrictions Again Possible (N.Z.P.A.) WELLINGTON, Sept. 25. I A forecast that the electricity j pe ition next year will be no better than this year, and that if coal supplies fall oil as at the beginning of last June, restrictions would have to go on again, was given by rhe Chief Electrical Engineer of the Works Department, Mr F. T. M. Kissel, at the conference of the secretaries’ committee of the Power Authorities’ Association. The precautions taken to conserve power were necessary and the thanks of the Department were due to the authorities for the way they had cooperated, said Mr Kissel. Between January and May of this year, the Department had allowed the authorities to Increase consumption by 3.4 per cent. Unfortunately at that time the coal miners had let them down pretty badly, and as a result the consumption possible at the end of August was only 2.4 above the previous year. They were also inconvenienced because Waikaremoana was particularly low. It was still a bit below normal, but they were getting 6.000,000 units a week more out of Waikaremoana than in the corresponding period of last year. Difficulties were relieved to a considerable extent by getting No. 5 unit at Arapuni into operation. It was a risk, but was justified by the successful result. The Department hoped to have another unit at Arapuni working by next June, but it was doubtful. The difficulty was getting equipment from overseais, especially heavy machinery. Plant For Karapiro Mr Kissel said they had pressed the Imperial authorities for the highest civil priority on plant for Karapiro, but there had been a continuation of delays, and the plant promised for la.'jt July could not possibly arrive In time to get Karapiro working next year. Nevertheless, New Zealand had increased its electricity output in greater proportion than either Britain, Canada or Australia. Referring to criticism of continuing restrictions in the summer, and of the closing of some plants, Mr Kissel said that if the restrictions had been taken off, people would have installed an extra load potential, and there would have been no hope of getting that load off in the winter. Also, oldei' plants had to have a spell to prepare for the winter load. The only improvement the Department had was a new unit at Arapuni. "We might possibly have to put a siphon in at Waikaremoana to pull down 10 or 15 feet of water storage that would not otherwise be used,’’ he added. “If we do that, we pull the level of the lake down, and once we get it down and it does not fill up again, we would be worse off than before.” “Wilt Be Drowned” Mr Kissel sald x that when the new power station at 'Karapiro comes into operation, there will be no margin ol power to tide over the interval between the closing down of Horahora and the starting of Karapiro, consequently the Horahora station, which will be drowned, will have to be sacrificed with all plant except the most easily removable equipment.