WATER POWER.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1204, 12 August 1911, Page 9

WATER POWER.

> i;> . -;r,,, : ; .r— -~,,,,,,... ELECTRICITY AT A PENNY PER UNIT. \mong the passengers from Australia on Wednesday was Mr. George D. Wearn, Consul for Sweden in Victoria, and a member of the firm' of Messrs. Gardner, Wearn and Co., manufacturers agents. Mr. Wearn states that he has oomo to \'cw Zealand in connection with tho Government's proposal to erect water-power generating stations at diffcrcmt points throughout tho Dominion., y He, as representing tho General Electric Manufacturing Co., of Swedon, is interested,., and. wants to' know all about tho Government's intentions'. Mr. Wearn talks most interestingly ' on tho big developments which have taken place in his own. country through the establishment all over tho realm of water-power stations. "Thero are now so many stations that it is not necessary to convey the,current verv far. I faucv about 120 miles is the farthest stretch of service, and that, is rather exceptional. Wo have a big plant at Trolhuttan (near Wcstoras) capablo of developing 100,000 horse-power, and from that station-.we .supply tiottenburg, sixty, miles awav. 'Such a distance is nothing. What is it—the cost of the wire and its conduit, and a littlo waste energy. Thero ore plenty of smaller stations dotted over tho country, and now tho Government (which holds water-power as means of generating electricity) has sanctioned- the erection of .a big station on the. Dalolfuon River for the supplyof tho. capital, city, Stockholm.; .. •-- ;:,,. ..,.,,.„' "Water ppwer is a, groat thing if-there, is a market for your full load but, if is no good erecting a plant which develops 10,000 horsepower and you only havo uso for 5000. You must have, your marker, otherwise yon will be;ruuning.at a-loss. • What should bo the co ? t of current so manufactured, delivered from a. station handily situated? .■■„„;„ "Well, with a jlant developing 6000 or 7000 horse-power,- where tho .capital cost has not been excessive,, it should-bo possible to sell current at Id., per unit, and even less to big consumers. In Sweden, current for industrial purposes is not retailed by tho unit. . A' person pays £o per year per horse power, so that if a small factory or mill wanted 50 horsepower they would pay JEM. down, and bo quite sure'of always getting their full horse-power-day or night. It can.bo used as long as one likes-thero is no restriction as to hours for tho simple reason that the plant is developing a full load, and comparatively nothing would bo saved bv curtailing the hours of use. '"Sweden has been utilising water-power for the seneratkui'of electrical power for over 30 vcars, and that it is still a growin- factor in our industrial, agricultural, and domestic life shows that it is the power of tho future. In the north of Sweden—tho Kiruana. district—it is being used to develop the great; iron deposits. There is to bo an electric, railway 600 miles in length to bring tho ore down to the =ea-coa'st, and electric furnaces to smelt" it. Our farmers use. electricity for thrashing, chair-cutting, etc., and now there are big electrical plants devoted to tho manufacture' of .artificial manureelectrical devices which extract tho nitrogen from the airi and force it into the lime—in this'manner making a nitrogenous product." . ■ Mr. Wearn considers that the ludyious harnessing of somoof our rivers will bo of universal advantage to industries in New Zealand. Australia is-now oh tho track to supplying itself with whatever it wnnts independent'of the rest of the world, and, that, is what- New -Zealand must do some day. He was aware that our labour .'aws did not give the industries much of a chance, to develop, and in ('hat connection said that electrical power was a srreat. disnenser of manual labour—it could be "made to do almost anything. ' ,• '