Dairy energy needs studied

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 14, Issue 649, 13 August 1996, Page 4

Dairy energy needs studied

King Country Energy has been looking at the possible development of dairy farming in the region and the services they will be expected to supply, reports the company's marketing manager Bruce Clow. "We have looked at dairy farms and equipment in various parts of the country so that we can provide good advice to farmers who are considering converting to dairy farming," Mr Clow said. "Farmers who are considering dairying are looking at an investment of about $500,000 and they need to be sure they do it right first time." Mr Clow said one of the most important planning requirements for a dairy shed was its energy usage. "We have travelled to various dairy areas in the country and talked to suppliers of dairy equipment so that we can provide advice to farmers on a case-by-case basis." Mr Clow said the requirements of each farm were different and the operating costs could affect the budget projections for conversion to dairy farming. He said that there were already three dairy farms starting up for the coming season and there was a high level of interest. Forestry New forestry plantations in the King Country have also

kept the company busy over the past year. As part of accommodating new forestry plantations, King Country Energy has relocated many kilometres of overhead lines to allow the plantations to grow to full height. Mr Clow said that relocation of overhead lines for forestry plantations is paid for by the forest owner. "However, as a company we are more than happy to cooperate with forestry developers to help facilitate the expansion of the industry." Mr Clow said the company' s saies of electricity grew by 2.2 per cent over the past year mainly due to substantial increases in the food and wood processing sectors. Tourism development KCE has recently installed a new electricity supply to the Chateau and Whakapapa ski field area. "The electricity was previously supplied by one cable which left it vulnerable to power outages," Mr Clow said, "we have now replaced it with three cables which gives a much higher security of supply to the area," he said. The whole supply system to the Chateau area has been upgraded to give greater reliability of supply. "The ski industry particularly is a substantial part of the development of tourism in the region and we are committed to support its development," said Mr Clow.