30,000 KILOWATTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17182, 27 October 1923, Page 1

30,000 KILOWATTS.

ARAPUNI POWER PLANS. TENDERS TO BE CALLED AT ONCE. Pkx Press Association. V WELLINGTON, October 27. The Government is ready to call tenders for the Arapuni electric works, which involve the diversion of the Waikato River into its old channel, which will ultimately be used as the head The site is nine miles from Putaruru, and the route has been surveyed for a branch railway if the contractor desires to construct one. Each pipe line will be 12ft in diameter, and turbines will be of 25,000 horse power, each generator supplying 1500 kilowatts. A large amount of preparatory work, in the way of giving access and driving prospect tunnels to test the nature of the country, has already been done, so that there may be no delay once a start is effected. The dam wiil be 150 feet above the present water level, and the power house will be at the bottom of the Arapuni Gorge. The banks of the river will be preserved for scenic purposes. The. workmen will be housed for a month in tents, but afterwards in huts and. larger buildings. Three years after the acceptance of the tender, the Public Works Depart ment will appoint eight engineers, who will be taken on to the staff and trained for the operation of the plant, the Government paying their salaries. To make the installation remunerative, a cmobined load of 30,000 kilowatts must be turned out at Arapuni and Hora Hora. Of this the Aucktive, a combined load of 30,000 kilowatts and the Franklin Board’s demand, along with the 10,000 kilowatts for the Waikato district, is expected to give the full amount of business required.