MORE POWER FOR SOUTH ISLAND

Southland Times, Issue 24240, 25 September 1940, Page 4

MORE POWER FOR SOUTH ISLAND

New Unit Installed At Waitaki

LEVEL AT MONOWAI VERY LOW GREATER CONSUMPTION OF ELECTRICITY The first of the additional generating units at the Waitaid electric power station had been given trial rims and would shortly be brought into commission, said the chief electrical engineer of the Public Works Department (Mr F. T. M. Kissel) in an interview with The Southland Times yesterday. He said that the raising of the output of power from Waitaki was an important item in the programme of the department because it was intended to use the big summer flow of the Waitaki river to a greater extent in future than in the past. The increase in the consumption of power in the area served by Lake Coleridge had caused the department some concern, Mr Kissel said, but with additional units available at Waitaki it would be possible to conserve the supply of water in Lake Coleridge during the summer and have that station at its maximum capacity for the winter season. This would give the department considerable reserves with which to meet the greater demand for electricity. LAKE MONOWAI LOW In common with all other stations which drew their water from western watersheds, the level of Lake Monowai was very low at present, Mr Kissel said. The position was the same at Waitaki, Lake Coleridge, Lake Taupo and Mangahao. It was a common experience for reserves to fall during the winter at these stations, but an improvement usually occurred after the end of August. The spring rains had, however, been unusually late in coming this season and at Monowai the lake was particularly low. In recent months Monowai had been used to full capacity and Southland had drawn less power from Waitaki.

“In Southland the full benefits of inter-connection with other South Island power stations may not be fully realized,” Mr Kissel said. “It is undoubtedly a great advantage when the supply of water is low and consumption of power is rising, but the link with Waitaki enabled us to close down Monowai altogether x for several months and undertake a complete overhaul.” He added that an overhaul of the station had become necessary, but it would have been impossible to undertake it without drawing power from another source.

“Our relations with the consumers in Southland since we took over the electricity distribution in the province have been quite satisfactory, and from the small number of complaints we have received we can assume that the consumers are satisfied,” he said. “As a matter of fact we receive fewer complaints than we did before we took control.’!