D—4

Wednesday, 18th July, 1945; the highest Saturday output was 4,643,000 units (last year 4,400,000) on Saturday, 28th July and the highest Sunday output 4,173,000 (last year 3,946,000) on Sunday, 29th July. Generation details (compared with 1944-45) are as follows:

Auxiliary and standby stations— Penrose .. .. .. 2,775,150 1,939,395 Wilsons .. ■ .. .. 2,824,200 4,661,256 Taumarunui .. .. 3,473,330 3,774,630 Tauranga .. .. 8,839,844 9,250,155 New Plymouth .. ".. 15,674,460 15,712,860 Opunake .. .. 1,648,838 1,653,927 Palmerston North .. 2,510,965 1,449,723 Kourarau .. .. 2,846,829 3,087,680 Evans Bay .. .. 47,338,100 37,405,030 Other miscellaneous purchases 5,730,769 2,126,050 Total units generated and purchased .. 1,576,005,851 1,532,533,268 2. Operation and Maintenance ( a) Power-stations Kings Wharf. —The poor hydraulic conditions resulted in heavy running for this station. A fault developed in the rotor of No. 10 5,000 kW. generator which necessitated rewinding'. This was the first time any of the rotors had been touched, and the conditions found suggest that trouble is probable in the future in the other machines. Preparations were made to commission No. 7 generator to pick up some 750 kW. of local service load during power shortage, and this machine is expected to be in service in the winter of 1946. Good, progress was made in the rewinding of No. 8 machine, and it is expected that this also will be in service in the winter of 1946. Coal consumed was 52,624 tons, deliveries amounted to 47,418 tons, and 964 tons were sold under orders from the Mining Controller. Of the coal received, 30,045 tons came from the South Island and 17,373 tons from the North Island. The stock in hand at 31st March, 1946, was 1,940 tons. The grit nuisance was very severe, and investigations into available types of grit-arresters were made. It was not found possible to determine the volume of material that the arresters would have to deal with nor to accumulate any data on particle size and character, but as a result of studies made it appears that we may soon be able to make an advance in this direction.

7

Year ended 31st March, 1946. Year ended 31st March, 1945. Station. Maximum Kilowatts. Units generated. Annual Load Factor. Maximum Kilowatts. Units generated. Annual Load Factor. King's Wharf Arapuni Horahora Tuai Piripaua Mangahao 28.899 130,000 12,300 62,700 44,000 20.900 47,023,796 897,224,300 94,847,530 192,129,700 126,295,040 124,823,000 Per Cent. 18-5 78-7 88-0 34-9 32-7 68-1 29,199 129,800 12,300 65,500 44,000 20,900 26,817,637 758,195,400 91,603,380 287,337,945 180,698,200 106,820,000 Per Cent. 10-5 66-7 85-0 50-1 46-9 58-3 1,482,343,366 1,451,472,562