WATER POWER

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 186, 16 November 1910, Page 4

WATER POWER

GOVERNMENT DEVELOPMENT SCHEME. IMPORTANT PROPOSALS. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, hist Night. In the course of his statement tonight* the Minister for Public Workssaid:— As already announced in the Financial Statement, the Government considersthat the time has now arrived to takeup with vigor the question of developing our abundant water powers. The Prime Minister promised that proposals should" be submitted to undertake one or moreschemes, and to extend the work froni time to time until all our centres of population have been supplied with hydro electric energy, and until our principal sources of power have been turned to commercial advantage. To supplement the information previously available, two additional reports have now been obtained from professional men ot high viz., an important report bv Mr. R. W. Holmes, engineer in chief of the Department, on the different schemes available, together with detailed estimates of the cost of some of them and probable commercial results of working the same; also a very full report by Mr. Lawrence Dirks on the subject of the demand that exists for power, the' schemes that it would be best to develop to supply the same, details of the probable cost, probable working results,, etc. Mr. Holmes also gives a list of a number of existing long distance transmission lines, from which members will observe that there are numerous lines iii existence where energy is transmitted more than 100 lines, and some where the transmission distance is over 200 miles, or longer than proposed in any of the schemes at present under consideration in this Dominion. The present position of matters is that the Department is in possession of fairly com» plete trial surveys, and much other engineering data regarding both the Hutt river and Lake Coleridge schemes, anil 1 a large amount of very useful information in respect of several of the otherschemes proposed. We are in a position to at once commence actual construction works in connection witheither or both of the former schemes, and instructions will be given for a commencement to he made accordingly,, as soon as practicable after the passing of the Estimates. The Department is in possession of more complete engineering data regarding the Hutt and Lake Coleridge schemes than with respect to any of the others, owing principally to themore advanced condition of the surveys as regards the Hutt scheme, three estimates of cost having been prepared by engineers acting entirely independently of each other; and as regards the LakeColeridge scheme, four such estimates are available. As regards the other schemes proposed, much less information is available, and it will be necessary during thepresent year to gather further details and complete the surveys, which are absolutely necessary in order that full and reliable estimates, not only of the probable cost, but of the commercial results likely to be obtained from the workingof tiie and of the markets for power, may be available fof- submission to Parliament next session. Hon, members will observe that Mr. Kirk's estimates of the probable receipts and expenditure in the working of the Lake Coleridge and Hutt river schemes are of a highly favorable character, and theworking of the existing Waipori scheme, which is the only installation of its kind at present in the Dominion,'gives some ground for the satisfactory expectation' regarding the first mentioned schemes which Mr. Birks has expressed in his report The Waipori sememe carries a much larger capitalisation per horse power than either of the Government schemes now proposed, and is also on a rniich smaller scale (and consequently more expensive to work proportionally) than either of the Government schemes, and yet that scheme is now working at a profit, notwithstanding that much of the energy produced is disposed of at only a small fraction over y 3 d per unit. The inauguration of our development of water power policy will render it necessary to obtain the services of a hydraulic and electrical engineer'of good' standing, so that the Government and the country may feel assured that the moneys appropriated by Parliament for expenditure on these services are laid out on good practical and commercially sound schemes and to the best advantage. It is proposed to invite applications for the position immediately. The Estimates now submitted provide for air appropriation of £300,000, which sum will be ample to enable an energetic commencement to be made. RAILWAY ELECTRIFICATION. Closely connected with our -water power* proposal* is the question of railway electrification. Enquiries were made into this matter two or three yearsago, and a report on the proposed electrification of the Christchurch-Lyttelton railway was submitted to Parliament. This report made it appear that the proposal was likely to be unremunerative, inasmuch as the interest and depreciation on the capital cost of the electrical installation, plus the cost of working the railway electrically, would amount to a larger sum than the present expense of working the line by steam locomotion. This, however, was on the assumption that the Railway Department would have to provide its own power house and equipment. If, however, the development scheme is inaugurated at Lake Coleridge, this expense would, if electric current is available in Christchurch at a much lower rate than was reckoned upon in 1908, without interest and depreciation charges on account of a costly power house, the circumstances wouid be totally different. Under our present proposals there is very little doubt that the line between Lyttelton and Christchurch,' and probably suburban lines adjacent to other cities, could be electrified with great advantage to the public in the matter of the speed and frequency of the services, and also with advantage to the Railway Department from a working point of view. This matter will, therefore, be gone into again with a view to proposals for the electrification of suburban railways.