ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Non-US Electrical Systems & Trades Looming Powercrisis in New Zealand

Hi Mike,

The North Island has a lot of hydro generation too, on the Waikato river I can't quote you exact MW but it will be around the 1000 MW mark, then Geothermal near Taupo ± 200 MW and then Gas or Coal fired like Huntly, Otahuhu, Westfield, New Plymouth, stratford Whirinaki etc.
and some windfarms ??
All peak load diesel stations are also clocking up a lot more hours at the moment.

Latest news is also that the 400 kV line from Whakamaru to Penrose will be delayed by the limpwristed electricity commision.
It will be a very interesting time to come.
Auckland hasn't had a cold spell yet. Averaging around 20°C for now.

Also good luck with your new Fire safety job mate.

I see in the news this week the Nth Island 400kV pylons have been given the thumbs down again. Guess we'll just have to lie the wires on the gound then. That should get rid of the protesors.

Kiwi,
Just shut the power off at Haywards.
"Oh I'm sorry, I thought you people wanted a power supply."
Don't want pylons?, Oh dear, we'll turn the supply back on when you all get it sorted out"
No-one asked us if we wanted huge 500kV DC pylons to supply the North Island did they?.
I don't notice lots of people dying in droves down here.
Pack of whinging idiots.
It's OK to have a power plant and lines, as long as it is in the South Island.
That's why we are called the Mainland, where all the work gets done!.
No wonder we hate Auckland down here.

Mike I have to completely agree with you there.
These whinging people around Clevedon on their fancy 10 acre lifestyle block are the cause of all of this and our limp wristed politicians are to gutless to override this nonsense.
Solution is simple, as soon critical demands are reached the area South of Auckland, and Bombay hills will be cut of from there respectively 22, 33 and 66 kV supplies.
The only problem is that Auckland is very power hungry and that area mentioned for load shed is not enough to avoid other outages.
The so called Electricity commision who charges a levy per kWh ( check your bill ) forgets that the longer we wait the dearer the total costs become and eventually the line will be built at 3 times the costs in maybe 10 years.
The whingers you hear on talk back radio have absolutely no idea about logistics re OH or UG cables over a distance of 220 km's.
Imagine say 440 joints in a 400 kV cable, I don't think that will be a reliable supply.
A bit of ground movement, even in a tunnel could create nice fire works.
We keep talking about this topic in the near future when it gets a bit colder and the load increases.
I have a 500 Amp hours 12 Volts DC battery bank on charge at home so I can keep the computer going for live updates as long my ISP has their standby system operational.
Greetings from Auckland
Raymond

We don't HATE Aucklanders Trumpy. We merely find them irritating and amusing ( especially their rugby team ).

Rodalco is right saying the radio talk-back whingers are logisically ignorant. And the UG option isn't viable due to seismic movement.

Interestingly, the Pylon Naysayers all seem to live outside Auckland. The Waikato mainly. I'm guessing that Aucklanders don't care about the Waikato pylon opponents.

Damn right too, Trumpy. 20 years ago those pylons would have gone up without "Consultation". The "Resource Consent" system in NZ is making it impossible to build pylons and therefore we will always have power problems.

Did anyone see that rubbish that was offered up on "Campbell Live" on Wednesday night?.
Apparently, according to a leaked "report" from the UK, any houses that are underneath any EHV lines should be demolished and no new ones proposed anywhere near EHV or HV lines.
I'm sorry I never had time to see the segment, but this sounds like some sort of Environmental group that is looking for publicity.
And what's the bet they were based in the North Island?.
The more I think about it, the North Island wants more energy, but it will be the South Island that provides it.
I think it is time we put our foot down and said no.
They want us to pay for an upgrade that wont benefit us, costing us millions, meanwhile all of our energy is being sent North to power an Island that could be self-sufficient if they got off their backsides and saved some energy for once.
Oh sorry, I forgot, it's too dangerous to walk to work in Auckland, there's too many un-employed people looking to mug you and then go home and run the electric heater all day.

Perhaps the UK report you refer to is Dr Draper's 2004 Oxford University report on the statistics of child cancer vs location, ie cancers contracted by kids living in the near-vicinity to hv power lines.

While this report is still awaiting a peer review by other scientists, he states that children are likely to suffer twice the rates of certain cancers as those not living near these lines, along with increases in adults with depression and of miscarriages. Remember, theses folks will be in the near-vicinity and exposed 24/24, which may be 3 or 4 times the maximum exposure of electrical technicians. He sampled 35,000 child cancer cases, so I think, could he have some statistically significant data?

While not condoning the irresponsible actions of certain environmentalist groups shooting their gobs off on crappy tv shows, if there might be a problem - let's get our kids out from under these lines till we know the truth; that seems only sensible and fair to me. If that means knocking down a few houses to do it - let's do it.

Just my few pennorth.

Alan

Alan,

These people that are against any sort of new expansion in our National Grid, will go to any level to prevent any such expansion.
Is Dr Draper a qualified Doctor in Science (as in Physics?)
Being "near" HV lines is no excuse.
There could be other such things causing the cancers.
There is a high rate of cancer here in Ashburton here, it's caused by the old Asbestos water pipes, in the ground.
Out of sight out of mind eh?.
Some of us people work up close to these lines and are monitored for changes in our bodies.
Don't hand me crap like this, 66kV or less is harmless.
You've got better chances of getting skin cancer from the sun here.
But don't try and tell the parents that.
Idiots.

And sitting in front of a TV or computer which is en essence an X-ray electron gun.

Then what never gets mentioned is the distance from the conductors to the ground.

Your in house 230 volts ccts are a lot closer than any 220 or 380 kV line anyway.

It's typical clapt@%p from someone who has no proven record, and want's the doogooders believe him.

regards Ray

Mike, Ray, I'm not a medical man, nor a scientist. I try and keep abreast of technical subjects within my limited understanding. Peer reviews are the key- they catch the 'fraudster' and 'publicity-seeker' type scientists when they publish lies, by testing the reasoning, logic, data and by repeating the experiments.

Dr Draper's report was peer reviewed by Professor Denis Henshaw in a paper published 2 March 2006. http://www.electric-fields.bris.ac.uk.
This criticised many aspects of Draper et al team's work, mainly in that it had limited scope and did not properly address some important avenues of research [such as the depression of melamin by electric ionising radiation].
However, Draper's basic findings and statistical evidence were not rubbished, and his team is not alone in their findings. From all over the world, the core scientific view on some child leukemia is that it may be started by ionising radiation affecting a foetus in the womb and giving it a predisposition, - from atomic radiation, radon, corona effects, EMF, or magnetic fields- even cathode ray tubes if you like. Subsequently after birth the predisposition in that idividual for some outside influence to trigger the cancer exists. That predisposition might be 1 in 20 of exposed individuals, a frightening percentage.

This would explain, if so, why an adult, not exposed as an embryo, could work near power lines for years with no effects.

Alan