SING 600 TONS A DAY

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1022, 12 July 1930, Page 10

SING 600 TONS A DAY

COAL SHORTAGE ACUTE FOR POWER BOARD £B,OOO A FORTNIGHT "During the last two weeks South Island and overseas coal has cost us £B,OOO, and we are committed to another £B,OOO worth for the next fortnight.” AYR. W. J. HOLDSWORTH, chairA man of the Auckland ElectricPower Board, made the above statement this morning. He was referring to the present shortage of coal. This is a serious thing for the board, which requires enormous quantities in order to maintain supplies for the power plant on the King’s Wharf. Mr. Holdsworth stated that the board was paying more than £2 a ton for coal from overseas, principally Newcastle, New South Wales.

"The present shortage is forcing us to buy coal wherever we can,” he said. “Usually we keep sufficient supplies in stock to last us for 10 weeks, but because of the failure of getting our supplies from the Waikato through the non-arrival of steamers and other causes we have had to use up our reserves.”

Mr. Holdsworth explained that the plant at King's Wharf was designed to use only slack coal. “Now the consumption of slack coal is so high that it is impossible to keep up the supplies from the Waikato,” he said. “There is about 40 per cent, of slack coal in every ton of big coal from the Waikato and as Power Board requires GOO tons of coal a day at present it can easily be seen why the supplies have fallen off. “Big coal is of no use to the Power Board. Last week we were forced to use Newcastle and South Island coal, with the result that the doors buckled, the bars were burned out and the bricks melted.”

At present the board has only two days’ supply of coal in hand, he continued. For three days last week it had not received one ton of slack coal from the Waikato mines.

It is a serious problem for the Power Board which, in its endeavour to maintain the supply of electricity for city and country, is using every kind of coal available. But this state of affairs cannot be continued indefinitely, for if coal of a very high calorific value has to be used the repair bill at King's WT»arf station will add to the already tremendous costs which are being carried by the board alone. Ifi addition to this the board’s reserve supplies must be built up again to meet emergencies.