£52m Cost For N.I. Power Without Cable

Press, Volume C, Issue 29509, 10 May 1961, Page 16

£52m Cost For N.I. Power Without Cable

(N.Z. Press Association) DUNEtHN. May 9. If the Government did not proceed with the Cook Strait power cable the total additional expenditure needed to provide power from North Island sources in the next eight years would be £52 million. In turn, this additional expenditure could mean an increase in the cost of power as sold to all consumers. These explanations were given by the Minister of Electricity (Mr Goosman) in Dunedin today when he met deputations from the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce and the Dunedin Labour Representation Committee on the question of the Cook Strait cable. Mr Goosman gave the two deputations, which he received separately, relative costs of alternative plans for power development with and without the Cook Strait cable.

The cost of the following projects and the Cook Strait cable were:— Complete Benmore, £4 million; build new Aviemore station (near Benmore). £15.4 million; build new Kopuriki station (in Whakatane county), £7 million; Cook Strait cable (cable less than £3 million), £lB.B million; total, £45.2 million. In considering possible alternatives of equal capacity the Minister made special reference to the Wanganui scheme and Wairakei. Wanganui River Although investigations were being made on the Wanganui river, a site could not yet be chosen nor a reasonable cost of estimate made up. It was unlikely that any recommendation regarding the development of this river would be made in less than two years. At Wairakei it had not been prudent to plan further extensions until the first and second stages had been completed and tried out. He admitted that the re-

suits of Wairakei had been "disappointing.” Excluding Wanganui and Wairakei there were three schemes in the North Island which had an equivalent output of the Waitaki river schemes with the proposed Kopuriki station. The cost of this North Island development was:— Kaituna scheme. £8 million; Kopuriki. £7 million: Tongariro scheme (including water from Upper Wanganui and peak load plant), £6l million; total, £76 million. Mr Qoosman said that this £76 million was not the total cost of the alternative North Island development. Power had to be transmitted from these North Island stations to where it was wanted and this would cost a further £9 million. This brought the North Island total capital cost to £B5 million as against the £45.2 million of the approved plan of South Island development with the cable. This £4O million difference between the costs of the two plans would in eight years mean an additional £12.4

million in standing charges and running costs. The capital charges on the £4O million for the next eight years would be £5.4 million. Idle Capacity Without the cable there would be idle capacity at Benmore for many years, and assuming that, half of Benmore lay idle for four years until 1969 there would be standing charges of £1 million a year for which there would be no revenue available. The total charge for the four years would be £4 million. • There would also be possible savings on coal for Meremere over the first few years of operation of Benmore. This could amount to £3 million between 1965 and 1969. Adding these items together showed that the only available North Island alternative would involve total additional expenditure of more than £52 million.