Third dam on Hinemaiaia is viable.. report

Taupo Times, Volume 23, Issue 60, 30 July 1974, Page 3

Third dam on Hinemaiaia is viable.. report

The development of a third dam on the Hinemaiaia stream has been described as econoinieallv viable in a report brought down by the consulting engineers, Hanson, Thorburn and Davidson, of Auckland. y An estimated $3,458,000 in loan monev will be

required for the scheme, providing construction begins in 1976. This figure includes an allowance for interest repayments of $175,000. The station will be capable of producing 16,696,000 kwh each year which is equivalent to the present output of the two existing stations on the Hinemaiaia. The report considered that the proposed development would have minimal impact on the environs. The feasibility study also considered the extension of the existing dam. This would increase the generating capacity of the station providing an additional 1 ,652,000 units each year. The present day cost of the extension to the existing station and that proposed is $2,725,000. This represents a capital cost of $495 per kilowatt produced. An additional loan of $115,000 will be required for civil maintenance works

on the existing station. "On the basis that the work will proceed, the silting which is occurring in the existing lake is not an immediate problem," said the report. "This matter should be reviewed when the stations are in operation. "If the development is not proceeded with, then urgent consideration should be given to de-silting the lake." The report has been received by the Taupo Borough Council. About 20 per cent of Taupo' s power is generated from the Hinemaiaia at one-third the cost of power bought from the State. The council has been waiting for some months for the feasibility report from its Auckland consultants. It will be studied in depth and referred back to the electricity committee's August meeting for recommendation. There are already two dams on the Hinemaiaia River, one built 22 years ago and the second commissioned in 1966.