HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 May 1920, Page 7

HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER.

THE MANGAHAO SCHEME. STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER. By Telegraph.—Press Association, Wellington, May 27. \,JaJ Pnt conce roing the Mangahao hydro-electno scheme was made bv Mr. ,' C *' c °at*s, Minister of Public n.iKr k )- a de P utation representing the pu he bodies of Wellington city and The Minister agreed that hydroelectric power was essential to the dcThe P nni nt of r « eW Zealand indu strie 9. The policy of the Government was to SX ■ P T er ' but there were many tlm ifflrnlt the He belic * ed that ,i oo„ ' V ro^rdin g labor would disappear soon. The position was imP oving, and the department in the T Ula tr ? t0 Set materials and , was prepared to get along , Wlth the Job m the right way. The r " e J e ? aar 7 purchases of machinery, i n . Tolving heavy expenditure, should bo made in the best markets after full information had been secured. The Government had committed itself deV u fmdln ff the money for the power schemes, and he felt that he had tT t and t0 80 ahead witli the work. ™. e , M «ngahao installation would not provide all the power that the Welling t f f e^ d '/dded the Minister. That fact should be understood. Mr Parry g scheme, which had been adopted by the Government, provided for linking up three sources of power in the North Inland, namely, Mangahao, Waikare. moana, and Arapuni, and the complete scheme was required. He had discussed thus matter fully with the engineers of the department,' and he could say that as soon as the plans and specifications had been prepared a start would be J W , ith tbe Wa 'karemoana scheme, it had been suggested that work there should start in September, but if Maori labor could be secured for the road contracts something might be done earlier. It was diliable that the schemes should 8 completed as nearly simultaneouslv as possible, but necessarily there would be intervals. The Arapuni site had not yet been definitely fixed, .since there was still doubt about the suitability of the ground for dam construction. He had been asked to say what power would be available for Wellington city. The scheme had been drawn up on a population basis, and if anybody could suggest a better basis he would coilsider but the population basis seemed to him to be a reasonable one. The Mangahao plant was estimated to have a total installed capacity of 24000 l'<ir«p-ppwer, or kiiowatts, and population to be supplied was 169,532. This gave 142 horse-power, or kilowatts, per head of population with the whole plant running at full load. A stand-by provision would have to be made elsewhere. The allocation of power was: Wellington City 12%!) 9^ooo Hutt Valley 3,000 2,200 i Otaki sub-Btation 1.200 900 Shannon sub-station 2,fi00 2,000 ' Bunnythorpe sub-station 3,800 2^oo Dannevirke sub-station .. 1,400 1,000 He was not in a position to malte a definite statement regarding Masterton's share of the power. He would consult ' the engineers and then communicate with the member for the district and the mayor of the borough. Woodville i had asked for the services of an , engineer to advise regarding local Bchemes. Probably that could be arranged at a later date. Mr. Birks: It would have to be later. ' The district would have to employ a consulting engineer to develop the work. ' Mr. Coates said the department was : prepared 'to assist any district with advice. Questions relating to the supply of materials for hydro-electric , works had been carefully considered by the department, and materials had been j bought in many parts of the world, but ! ships were not bringing them to New Zealand. Plant had been on order for < as long as two years and delivery was i still uncertain. Prices had advanced in the meantime in some cases, andcce- t tain contracts had been cancelled owing ' to the rise of prices. The position was now looking better. The Government . was most anxious to push the work forward. <