Electric ceremony at Turoa Saturday

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 391, 18 June 1991, Page 7

Electric ceremony at Turoa Saturday

Turoa is to be ceremoniously switched on this Saturday, following the completion of the electnfication of the field.

Minister of Energy John Luxton will turn the switch in a ceremony at midday on Saturday. Until this season Turoa has relied on diesel generators for its power, which placed limits on things like cafeterias, ticketing systems and even quality toilet facilities. Diesel motors have provided the power for almost all of the field's ski lifts, and these are now superseded by electric motors. After negotiations between King Country Energy (then King Countn Electric Power Board), A Kiwi Helicopters machine lowers the High Noon T Bar transformer into piace.

Turoa and the Department of Conservation, the decision to go ahead with the long-talked about project was made at Christmas 1990. Because the ski field is in a national park the option of overhead power supply was not available, though it seems from the experience of Whakapapa that on-ground power cables are the most effective long term when maintenance and reliability of supply are taken into consideration. King Country Energy general manager Peter Till said costs of the project could be separated into two parts, the work inside the Tongariro National Park and on the ski field, and the work in Ohakune.

The laying of the cable inside the park, the cables on the ski field and installing the six transformers cost about $1.1 million. This part has come out almost exactly on budget, said Mr Till. The other part of the project was replacing lines within Ohakune and building a new line up Old Station Road and Railway Row. While this part of the work is yet to be completed it looks set to come out on or under budget, said Mr Till. He said this part of the work is separated because it was to be carried out at some stage to provide an alternative supply for Ohakune. He said the electrification project brought this work forward on their programme. Mr Till said King Country Energy was very pleased with the

way the project had gone, with the cost of laying the cable on the field working out at about $55 per metre which was a good average, $50 per metre in the bush and about $25 per metre to the park boundary. He said it should prove to be a good investmient for King Country Energy, not only in electricity saies to the ski field but irbthe long term extra saies in the town of Ohakune, in motel and other accommodation. Mr Till said the cable allowed for a limited amount of growth on the field, including some snowmaking. He said it had been a hard economic decision to make to choose the size cable to install. While a bigger cable would have made allowances for Turnpage 9

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From page 7 much more future growth, the extra cost threatened the financial viability of the project. Mr Till said if at a later date another cable needed to be installed, they would then have the advantage of a back up line to the field.