THE GUARANTEE OF POWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 770, 17 September 1929, Page 8

THE GUARANTEE OF POWER

rIE price that must be paid for progress is evident in the Power Board’s decision to curtail operations at the King’s Wharf power station as soon as satisfactory guarantees can be given that No. 2 turbine at Arapuni will operate smoothly and without risk of breakdown. To some extent tlie men affected by the inevitable staff reduction at the King’s Wharf are aware that they have held their posts on sufferance. Indeed, the delay at Arapuni has given them more than one reprieve. But this does little to ameliorate their position when the blow ultimately falls, and the Power Board would be doing the community a service if it could find some means of placing these men in other work without forcing them on to an already crowded labour market. With the logic of the board’s decision no fault can otherwise be found. It has been subjected all along to a series of irritations in its wait for Arapuni power, and at this stage it is certainly entitled to east the main responsibility on' to the department. There appears at the moment to be a very satisfactory prospect that the heavy work necessary below the spillway can be executed without the necessity of lowering the lake. This means that Nos. 2 and 3 units will continue to operate in the meantime, with No. 1 adding its strength somewhere about the end of the year. Thus the immediate purposes of the scheme, to bring three units into production, will have been fulfilled. It is to be noted, however, that contingencies at any time may demand the de-watering of the lake, and consequent cessation of power-generating. Mr. F. W. Furbert has stated that the engineers on the job have authority to proceed with this expedient on their own initiative should emergency demand it. The form that emergency could take may be reasonably appreciated. If the use of the diversion tunnel as a by-pass—-with the immense head of the lake behind it—threatened the security of the tunnel, then the lake would have to be lowered at once, and the water passed direct through the tunnel at much reduced pressure. The wisdom of placing responsibility for such a decision in the hands of the engineers on the job cannot be questioned. " Indeed, there may be some regret that a similar degree of trust was not reposed in them before. It is fairly commonly known that, when the recent crisis arose, the warnings of the resident engineers were not immediately heeded by executives in Wellington. As far as Auckland power is concerned, there is no need at all for uneasiness before next winter. The Power Board has both the Penrose Diesel plant and the King’s Wharf steam plant as standby stations. But if all goes well at Arapuni, and the turbines operate satisfactorily while the spillway overflow channel is being protected against further erosion, there will be no need to .call on these auxiliaries.