PROPOSED NEW POWER STATION

Taupo Times, Volume IV, Issue 193, 7 October 1955, Page 4

PROPOSED NEW POWER STATION

In considering the report submitted to the Borough Council by its consulting engineer, Mr Lloyd Mandeno, the outstanding f ea ture is undoubtedly the growth in demand since power was switched on. Taupo's growth in population in that period has greatlv outdistanced anything then foreseen, a fact that no doubt is largely oue to the expenditure of Government money on the Wairakei geo-thermal project. This influence will continue for some time, and will be augmented in the near future by the bringing into occupation* of a large number oi" farms under the Lands Department's development programme, while there is no doubt that the very availability of electric power has itself been a factor in bringing more residents to the district. The unforeseeabl.e character of | this extraordinary growth is indicated by the fact that the main objection voiced, prior to the holding of the initial poll on | the hrst electric power loan proposal, by critics of the scheme, | was that it would become an immediate charge on the rates. In other words, that demand would not.be sufficient to enablej the scheme to function on a self-supporting basis. Far from that being ihe case, the project has paid its way and no rate has been struck to support it, The position created by this remarkable growth in population, and consequently in the demand for power, is such that immediate preparation to increase the power output is an obvious necessitv. IVIr Mandeno's ; report recommends the construction of a second power station on a site two miles up the Hinemaiaia River from the Lake. This site has alreaciy been approved, following full investigation, by | the engineers of the Ministry of Works. | rAs reported earlier (Taupo Times, 23/9/55, front page), I Mr. Mandeno has advised that installation of another generator 1 at the present power station could not be relied on to provide | full-capacity operation in the usually dry May-June period, while / its cost would be nearly half the estimated cost of the newl power station on the lower site. # . a Construction of this new station, on the other hand, willjj provide an all-year supply of power which will obviate the neces- 1 sity of drawing on the national hydro-electric grid for power in| possible dry May-June periods, a necessitv that would also mean, | in view of what is known of the national electric power situationjj the imposition of power supply controls and cuts. Further, eonstruction of the new station would mean that any surplusof | power was immediately saleable to the national grid on comple-i tion of the Government power line to Wairakei, and such salej would benefit all consumers by returning a profit. t 1 In considering the proposal to construct the new station 1 it is obvious that it, like the present scheme, will be completelyl self-supporting from the outset. Ancl here it should be pointed | out that the reference to the rate of 3d in the £ in the Council|j| statutory advertisement last week, as security for the proposd | loan. does not mean that that rate will be actually struck. SucJJj security rates are only struck when a loan scheme is one that is| not self-supporting, and it is already abundantlv clear that the | demand for power in the district is such that the new piojj^iH will pay its way. There can be no doubt that the only piactic$|jB course, if power shortage is to be avoided, is to develop the pnyl posed new site as soon as possible. ^