ELECTRIC DEVELOPMENT.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 55, 29 February 1912, Page 2

ELECTRIC DEVELOPMENT.

A WATER-POWER SCHEME IN TASMANIA.

A hydro-electric scheme of considerable magnitude and one which has attracted a great deal of attention throughout Australia is that now under construction for the Hydro-Electric Power and Metallurgical Company in Tasmania. At the end of 1909 the Tasmanian Parliament passed an Act empowering the Complex Ores Co. to divert water from the River Shannon and the Great Lake, situated in the ■Centre of Tasmania into the River Ouse, for the purpose of generating electric power. A charge of £52 per annum for the right of using the water was made and a lease of Crown lands with right of renewal was granted for 21 years at a nominal sum. Power was also given them to construct transmission lines anywhe.re in Tasmania. Any private land required, could be acquired; the amount to he paid in compensation to private owners being settled by arbitration. The promoters had to make two deposits of £IOOO each within 6 and 12 months of the passing of the act, £IOOO to be forfeited if the work were not started before January Ist. 1911 and the whole to be forfeited if £IO,OOO had not been spent on works before July Ist 1912. In addition to this the whole of their powers and leases should lapse if plant and buildings for electro-metallurgical works for using not less than 3000 horse power were not constructed within four years of the passing of the act. After 21 years the Crown on giving 12 months notice may resume all leases and water rights and take 'over the whole of the plant etc. on paying as compensation a sum not exceeding the actual cost of construction plus 20 per cent less the amount necessary to put the whole plant in a proper state of repair. Should the Crown at any time'resume the rights it shall agree to supply power to the Company or its subsidiaries at cost price plus a reasonable percentage for interest and depreciation. When these concessions bad been granted, the Hydro-Electro Power and Metallurgical Co., was floated in London and Australia with sufficient capital to carry out the whole work. This Company took over the Complex Ores concessions and $ start was made at

once.-' -r 1 - The. electrical portion of the scheme was designed by Mr. Butters B.Sc., A.M.I.E.E. The Engineer-in Chief to the Company and Messrs Merz and Maclellan, while Mr. W. Lancelot Moore, A.M.1.C.E., hydraulic engineer, of Wellington, was asked to visit Tasmania to advise on the lay-out of the hydraulic portion. The scheme presented no very great engineering difficulties and was exceedingly well favouredi thy nature. The Groat Lake lies' in the centre, of Tasmania at an altitude of 33Q0 { feet amongst hills where the annaUl rdi'nfall amounts to Bor 10 feet. The River Shannon runs out of this lake and -joins the River Ouse about 30 miles lower down. The upper waters of the latter river ‘flow past the Great Lake at a distance of only 4 or 5 miles, and at this point they arc at a level of about 1500 feet below the lake. It is found that by' baki'ng the water from the 1 Shannon ahd 1 letting it out into the Ouse a total; of over 100,000 h.p. can bo obtained)] continuously, and by diverting another river into the Great Lake this power can be nearly doubled. At the outlet of the lake a dam is being constructed to regulate the flow down the Shannon, and at a point about G miles below the lake this river is diverted through a canal about 3* miles in length into a natural lagoon. From this lagoon the water will be taken in pipes down to the turbines which are situated on, the banks of the Oyse at the bottom of a deep gorge about 1130 feet below the level of the lagoon. From this point the first, of a probable series of radiating lines, runs down to Hobart, a distance of 64 miles and then on to North West Bay a further 13 miles making a total of 77 miles. Power will be sold in Hobart, and at North West Bay. where there is a splendid harbour accommodation and deep water right up to the shore, the metallurgical works are to be established. The electrical machinery and transmission lines are being constructed by Messrs Siemens Bros., aiyl the whole of the pipe lines and'turbines are being supplied by Messrs J; O. Boving and Co,, London. Two • turbines .of IjOOO b.hp. each with oil pressure governors and pressure regulators, have been ordered amj foundations are being prepared for two additional sets of 5000 b.h.p. Room has also been left at the end 'of the power station for three additional units of about 13,000 b.h.p. each. The pipes, which average 34 inches in diameter, have to stand a pressure at the lower end of 500 pounds per square inch. They are of very special construction and made of the very best steel, all seams being welded by means of water gas. The whole of tlio plant is to be erected complete by December Ist, 1912, as the company have contracts for the supply of power in Hobart by the end of that month. This scheme will probably develop into the most important one of its kind in the whole of Tasmania, and should prove a good example of modern hydro-electric practice.