ELECTRIC POWER

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 157, 29 March 1939, Page 14

ELECTRIC POWER

Increasing Demand But Decreased Supply EVANS BAY PLANT NOW INDISPENSABLE When four years ago a proposal was made to the Wellington City Council to increase the plant at the Evans Bay powerhouse there was some opposition by councillors on the ground iliat, as this station was only a stand-by, it would be required only at peak-load times in midwinter, and that, with the additions the Government was making to its hydro-electric plants, but rarely When the electrical engineer. Mr. M. Cable, recommended the Swiss boilers there was furl her opposition, this time on the grounds that if further supplementary boilers were required they should be of British manufacture. But the present is far from midwinter ami the plant at Evans Bay is generating 15.000 kilowatts continuously. That eventuality was not contemplated four years ago. If has been caused by two factors: First the decreased supply from the hydro-electric plants, brought about by the diminution of si reams as the result of the long dry spell since Christmas. New Zealand is a country with an ample rainfall. but. largely because of the denudation of its forests, the ground cannot bold water to feed streams for a long period. Mangahao, in the hills near Shannon, and now linked with Waikaremoana and Arapuni, is of small assistance Avitlt the load at present because the water supply is very much below normal.

The second factor is the increase in the draw-off. Practically everything In the factory, the farm and the home is now actuated by electricity. New districts have been opened up during the past year; new settlements are being created, and nearly every town and city shows a growth in the demand for electric service. With a lessened output there is an increased demand to be met. Additional plant has been imported for Arapuni but that may not come into full production till 19-11 or 1942 because of the extra supply of water which may have io be harnessed to feed it. Effect of Depression. The “New Zealand Electrical Journal” issued this week refers to the tact that at the 1938 conference of the Electric Power Boards and Supply Authorities’ Association there were the beginnings of a feeling that New Zealand might be short of bulk power in 1939, and if not then almost for a certainty in 1940. The Minister of Public Works, Mr. Semple, in opening the conference, said

“That increased demand is due to the fact that there was no development in connexion with the consuming public during depression years. The demand was there, however, though it could not be given expression to. As a result of the depression, people did not have money to install electric stoves, radios and other things used in the home, and the factory life of the country was down to zero. ... I know some people are of the opinion that we will be left in the dark or stranded in the future because of the enormous increase. There need be no fear that the development of the last three years will continue at the same rate because such a development has meant that the demand for power during the depression has been stemmed up, and the development that should have taken place over several years has taken place over three.”

With the Evans Bay plant working at full pressure during March, it would seem that the shortage of hydro-elec-tric power is on the country and, should April prove as dry as March, will be felt in the near future. With the demand in Wellington increasing steadily, the strengthening of the plant at Evans Bay—perhaps not this year but possibly next —may have to be considered to retain the station as an effective stand-by plant. The inclusion of the two Swis.s boilers and British turbines two years ago was a step in the right direction; further enterprise of the kind is not beyond the range of contemplation.