CHEAP ELECTRIC POWER.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 July 1922, Page 11

CHEAP ELECTRIC POWER.

/TREATMENT OF BROWN COAL, A BIG VICTORIAN SCHEME. SIB JOHN MONASH INTERVIEWED.

(By

T.C.L.)

Melbourne is the Birmingham of Australia. It is the industrial, manufacturing centre of the great continent. It has built up. slowly but surely, industries and enterprises which, ' despite many drawbacks, more than hold their own with the industries of Sydney and Newcastle. Chief amongst the disadvantages are those of power and fuel supplies. There is no hard, black coal in Victoria, so all coal for the production of steam and electricity has to be imported from N.S.W. - The Melbourne manufacturers have had some interesting experiences in con? nection with their coal supplies during the strikes and “go slows” on the part of the N.S.W. miners, and the railways, after similar experiences, have taken care to pile up big dumps of coal along the main lines in order to tide over emergencies. It can therefore be readily understood that the Victorian people desire to render themselves independent of the capricious mining gentleman of N.S.W., who, by the way, has little difficulty in “knocking out” a wage of £lO for a five days’ week, which perhaps accounts for the increase in the cost of coal at the pithead from 11s per top to 21s 9d at present, while by the time it reaches Melbourne it costs in the vicinity of £2. What the increase means to Victoria may be gauged from the fact that the coal imported amounts to 1,200,00’0 tons annually, of which 912,000 tons are respired for public utilities, such as railways, industries, gas works, etc.

IMMENSE DEPOSITS. Though deficient in black coal, Victoria has immense deposits of brown coal, which the authorities have decided to convert into electricity on the coal field, and send to Melbourne and other parts of the State. Three years ago a Commission was set up to investigate the project. General Sir John Monash, the brilliant soldier who led the Australians to victory in the Great War, was at the head of the Commission, which also inquired into the water resources. The Commission set about its work in that thorough manner that could be expected from a man of the General’s parts, and decided in favor of utilising the brown coal at Morwell, distant about 90 miles north-east from Melbourne, and towards Gippsland, the Taranaki of Victoria. Eight months ago the work was put in hand, and no time is being lost in carrying it to completion.

A COMPLIMENT TO NEW ZEALANDERS. I had the pleasure of meeting Sir John Monash on two occasions and very courteously he explained the scheme. As mav be expected, he is an exceedingly busy man, but like most “big mer.” he can always find time to see anyone on business bent, especially when accompanied by a friend who was on intimate terms with the General, as was my companion. “You’re a New Zealander. I hear.” he said, as he gripped my hand. “Always pleased to meet a New Zealander,” he continued. “Saw a good deal of your men during the war, and we Australians learned to know them and to esteem them. Splendid chaps; fine fighters, dependable. Met them first on Gallipoli, then in France. They were with our chaps at Pas-sehen-daele, Messines and other places. Yes,, we learned to know and have great respect for them.” “That feeling is reciprocated, T can assure you,” T ventured to reply. “Never have I heard from them but praise of • the fighting qualities of the Australians.”

“Glad to hear it.” replied the General; “our men will never forget the New Zealanders and their fine performances oh Gallipoli and in. Franco. You breed good men in New -Zealand.” Then he spoke about the scheme, how it was initiated, what had been done, was Ticino done, and what was projected 7 Then he invited questions and gave me reports to carry away. Before endeavoring to. set down the salient features of the scheme. I might mention that the General is a man of striking appearance, strength and decision being written all over his mobile features. Inclined to he thick set in build, he has a ruddy complexion, the result, no doubt, of his years of service in the field. His eyes are the most •hdticeable characteristic. expressing nower as well as understanding and benevolence, attributes which endeared him to the wayward, headstrong Australian soldiers, and made them the great fighting force they were during the war It is acknowledged in Australia that General Sir John Monash was an ideal leader of the. Australians because he understood them and they him. and ,that thev would have gone, to Hades itself with him had he so ordered them. AN ENERGETIC CAPABLE STAFF. Most of the engineers associated with him in this great electrical enterprise served under him during the war, and they are working together .with the same vim. co-ordination and loyalty as characterised their relations at the war. To give an idea of how they are doing things: It was decided that the electrical executive should have their own building, or headquarters, in Melbourne. Plans were got out by Sir John and his staff: then a start was made with the erection of the great edifice. Thev aimed at building a storey a week, and they succeeded, much to the astonishment of the natives of Melbourne, who. when informed of the intention, said it could not be done. These energetic young engineers showed they could erect huge buildings as quickly and efficiently as they erected bridges and other works at the front. As the builders went up th» executive staff took over the finished floors, and the floor in which we were received by the General had only been out of the builders hands a week or two. and during our visit, they were bard at work above on further stories. It did one's heart good in these days of slowness and procrastination to sec the energy and vim put into this work. And the same may be said of the works out at Morwell. The engineers and workmen are not letting the grass grow under their feet, and already much has been aeeomplish[ed in a work which is' destined to make 'Melbourne the greatest manufacturing WMttl and New Zealand.

MORWELL, THE SITE OF THE WORKS. Morwell, the site of the works, has at hand coal deposits of approximately 120,000,000 to 150,000,000 tons which can be won by open-cut methods of operation. These quantities are sufficient to r provide for the continuous operation of a power-house with an output of 100,000 | h.p. for a period of 150 years, whilst outside the area is an estimated quantity of twenty billion tons. The average thickness of the main seam is 174 feet, with an average overburden of clay of 33 feet. Therefore mining in the ordinary way is unnecessary. Steam shovels having removed the overburden —a work they are at present engaged upon—will break down the coal and lift it on to a travelling conveyor, which will take it right into the furnace. This eliminates the miner, a gentleman who always has a grievance and is an uncertain quantity, and all other manual labor, even to the stoker, all the work being performed automatically, the machinery being directed by skilled engineers. A MODEL TOWNSHIP. The whole face of the countryside has been altered, or is in process of alteration. A township (Yallourn, by name) is being created on town planning principles, public buildings, theatres, dwellings and everything That makes up a township are being provided, as well as parks and recreation grounds. A river (the Latrobe) is being diverted, for it is essential in the burning of coal for electricity generation that there should be an abundance of water alongside. When the plant is in full operation, and developing over 150,000 k.w., about five million gallons will have to be circulated through the condensers every hour. The coal is naturally poorer in calorific power than the black coal of Newcastle. It takes 24 tons of the brown to give the heat of one ton of black, hut Sir John Monash is confident that he can mine and deliver the brown coal into the furnaces at a cost of unaer 2s 3d per ton, which works out at less than 5s Sd for the heat equivalent of one ton of Newcastle costing nearly £2 a ton. CHEAPNESS OF HANDLING. It is the cheapness of handling the coal that makes the scheme practicable and preferable to any hydro-electric resources available in Victoria. Another advantage is the capability of expansion of the works as the demand for electric cal energy increases, there being practically no limit to the possibilities of expansion. As the demand grows, more machinery for getting out the coal and more furnaces need only be provided. This advantage, Sir John pointed out, is not enjoyed by hydro installations, which are limited to the capacity of the head works. The Commission, he said, had investigated the utilisation of water power, the only known source of supply showing a reasonable prospect of approaching the initial requirements being the Kiewa river, situated about 133 miles from Melbourne. At the outside it would not provide more than 35,000 k.w. for continuous supply, which is quite inadequate even for present needs. Besides it offered no hope of extension to meet the large demands that would continue to develop in other parts of the State, as well as the demands that were expected to come from the establishment of new industries requiring large blocks of cheap power as the basis of their operations. The capital costs of hydro-electric works was also an important factor. At one time labor and material were comparatively cheap, and the capitalisation of the works made cheap power possible where thev were operated continuously to their full capacity. So the Kiewa scheme was not recommended.

THE ESTIMATED COST. The original estimate of the cost of the Morwell scheme was two and a half million sterling, made up as follow: I £ Power house nnd plant 1,442,927 Transmission line 323,102 Terminal station 226.755 Distribution cables. Melbourne .... 272,550 Sub-stations and equipment 251,058 Total 2,516,392 On top of this there is the expense; estimated at £221.000, of opening up the mine, that is. stripping the coal of its overlay of earth. The cost of the power in Melbourne is a vital point. This is estimated at under a half-penny per unit, on a basis of consumption of between 50,000 and 60.000 k.w. It will be possible to sell the power in bulk, and make a substantial profit, at about three-farthings a unit. The power consumer to-dav is paying an average price between 0.R25 and 1.5 of a penny per unit, depending on the load factor of his demand and the quantity of energy consumed.. The average consumer of lighting power pavs from 4d to 54d per unit at present. It is not expected that consumers will get the power at the cheap rate immediatelv the Morwell works arp running, as there is a considerable financial burden to be borne by the present undertakers in the shape of dead capital caused by the scrapping of existing plants. This, Sir John pointed nut. will pvadimllv disappear by the periodical writing down of the assets, and when it doos, the full effect of the cheaner State scheme will be demonstrated bv the retail charges Heine substantially lower than would be possible if existing conditions were to continue indefinitely. It is believed that in course of time the cost of current will be one half the present cost, with the likelihood of still lower costs as the. scheme develops. A BRIQUETTING PLANT. Tn connection with the scheme is another important project, that of converting the brown coal into briquettes. It will be remembered that there .was a great hubbub last year over (he importation of German engineers to install the ■ briquetting svstem. called the Zeitzer. | which successfully treats the poor ' coal of Germany. At first the public [ would not. on any consideration, have the German engineers land, and later, when it. was fully realised that it was either that or no briquetting plant, the feeling died down. Then the Germans got on their dignity, and refused point blank to go to a countrv sn hostile to (hem. Diplomacy then intervened, and now the Germans are coming with their plant, which they exnect to instal and operate for a year, instructing Australian engineers during that period. One unit is to be built first, having a capacity of 70 tons a day. and other units will bp added as the demand I grows. The cost of the briquettes in : Melbourne is estimated at under 20s a i ton. which compares very favorably with the present cost of Newcastle coal at > approximately 40s. In Germany, it may be mentioned, a large percentage of the i brown coal is briquetted, nne firm on the PUi&aelaad turning out tw

briquettes per day, and selling at the works at from 4s 5d to 5s Gd per ton. VICTORIA SELF-CONTAINED. The idea is, as said in the beginning of this article, to render Victoria independent of N.S.W. in the matter of power and fuel, and there is little doubt but that the authorities will be successful in their object. It is hoped to have everything in readiness, by the beginning iof 1923. The scheme is fraught with great possibilities, and its success must confer great advantages upon Melbourne and other parts of Victoria. The operations will be followed with interest by New Zealanders, for conditions even more advantageous exist here for the development of electrical energy from our coal. Take the Mokau and the Ohura, at our own door. Tn both places there are immense quantities of coal that present no mining difficulties. That on the Mbkau abuts on the river, and the overlay does not seem to be very considerable. Alongside runs a river

with plenty of water. On the Waitewhena. road, Ohura, not far from Mokau as the crow flies, coal outcrops in the jhills, which are literally full of coal in calorific quality, like the Mokau. vastly superior to the Morwell brown coal. Who knows but that in . the near future the coal from these districts will also be w&verfevd into electricity and diatribu*

ted to other districts, or. used to .“boost” the hydro-electric stations we at present are engaged upon establishing and developing in various parts of the North Istaad ?