ELECTRIC POWER SUPPLY

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XLIX, Issue 9592, 24 August 1949, Page 2

ELECTRIC POWER SUPPLY

SUBMARINE TRANSMISSION? AUSTRALIAN PROPOSAL POSITION IN NEW ZEALAND New Zealand will be closely ip-if r -, ested in a proposal which is under consideration in Australia to develop hydro-electric power in Tasmania and transmit it across Bass Strait to western Victoria and South Australia. The whole scheme, it is suggested, would cost £400,000,000 but it would be justified because it would save the two States importing their coal needs from Newcastle 1000 miles away. The present power generation in Tasmania, it is claimed, could be multiplied more than ten times. The leading promotor of the scheme, Senator Lamp, says there would be no difficulty in providing a submarine cable to carry the current across Bass Strait, whereas the New Zealand Minister of Works, Mr Semple, has been very doubtful of the prospects of transmitting current across Cook Strait. And while the Cook Strait cable would be .only about 20 miles long, the submarine cable distance between Tasmania and the mainland is nearly 200 miles. Australia’s first action no doubt will be to' discover whether submarine transmission cables are practicable, and New Zealand will be interested in the investigation. In the not distant future the South Island of New Zealand will be able to generate a much greater volume of . current than the North I&land, while as far as can be seen the major demand will remain in the North Island; hence the interest in submarine transmission. When the Waikato River is fully harnessed and producing about 900,000 kilowatts the greater part of the North Island power potential will have been developed. Eventually it may be necessary to look to the South Island for additional current. Even if submarine transmission is impracticable now it will not always be so.

For immediate purposes it may be useful to discover whethei' a submarine cable across Cook Strait could tap South Island current in tune to relieve the North Island of the shortage which otherwise will continue for years. That of course will depend not only upon the feasibility of under-water transmission but also upon the time required to develop the big South Island power schemes. It may be that earlier relief will be obtainable from North Island development. In any case New Zealand seems destined to suffer power shortage for some ears.

The South Island has an enormous additional hydro-electric power potential, first in the Roxborough development on- the Clutha River and later from the lakes and rivers on the southern end of the west coast. From the southern lakes a vast volume of water falls steeply to the sea and offers power development prospects probably unexcelled anywhere for both quantity and economic generation. The time may come whe*n there is a heavy demand for local industries, but in any case the rest of the Dominion has a great asset in this potential, of which it is necessary to make the best possible use.