Palmerston North Electric Power Station Inc.
(Photo: Val Burr, 23/9/2000)
After being virtually ignored by the public for decades, almost as though it was just another decaying mausoleum in the adjoining Terrace End Cemetery, the career of the old Palmerston North Electric Power Station looks set to enter a new phase.
The original Palmerston North Electric Power Station proposal - in 1916 - was aimed at powering an electric tramway for the town and also to provide a lighting system. However, the effects of World War One, and subsequent cost increases, meant that the proposal was not adopted in its entirety. The town’s public energy needs had been supplied for decades by its gasworks, but times were changing. As a result, in 1920, the Council decided that petrol-driven motor buses were a more versatile and economic means through which to provide public transport than electric tramcars. The tramway proposal was, therefore, dropped and a loan was obtained to establish only the electric lighting network and the power plant.
The building’s architect was J.M. Dawson, and
early plans show that the finished article is rather longer than that first
designed. Its consulting electrical engineer was Frederick Black, and the
electrical contractors were Turnbull & Jones Ltd.
The generating plant consisted at that time of three 450 BHP National Vertical Tandem Cylinder Gas engines, driving 340 kVA alternators. Two 800 hp Mond suction-gas producers, located in the nearby retort building, supplied the gas to power the engines. The gas, in turn, was fuelled by Waikato coal, which was carried to the plant via an adjoining private siding that also served the neighbouring gas works.
The engines were given a trial run in February 1924 to dry out the generators. The power station accordingly began a limited supply to the town the following month, although solely for lighting at that time. The gas holder was still incomplete and as a result, the gas supply could not be maintained at a steady pressure. Unrestricted usage began in August that year, when the facility began supplying 1,071 consumers and 705 street lights.
Despite having been in
service for months, the Palmerston North Electric Power Station was not
‘officially’ opened until 12 November 1924.
Between April and December 1924, the power station also supplied the Manawatu Oroua Electric Power Board’s sub-station at Bunnythorpe. This was until 11,000-volt lines from the new Mangahao Hydro Electric dam, in the Tararua Ranges behind Shannon, were completed. From this source came the first electricity received by Whakarongo School, on Napier Road. The School Log says that its new electric heaters operated (somewhat erratically) from 8 July 1924. However, the teacher soon considered them useless due to "low current pressure."
The Mangahao Hydro Electric Power Station was officially opened on 3 November 1924, a week before the Palmerston North power station.
The British Polar Engines arrive
In
1936, two new British Polar K48M diesel engines, a type suitable for marine or
industrial use, were added to the power station’s plant. These engines (serial
numbers 215 and 216) were manufactured by British Auxiliaries Ltd.
of Glasgow, under
license from Nydqvist & Holm, Trollhattan, Sweden. They
develop 1,400 BHP at 300 rpm. These 8-cylinder, 2-stroke
engines have an additional air scavenge cylinder, and a bore and stroke of 340 mm
by 570 mm (approx. 13
3/8 inches by 22 7/16 inches ). This gives a swept volume of 725
litres. Depending on the load, each could consume between 40 and 56 gallons of
diesel per hour. The generating plant consists of two General Electric 1,250 kVA
alternators (which generate electricity at 3,300 volts, 3 phase, 50 cycles) and
two 150 volt, 22.5 kW exciters. Each engine weighs 50 tons, with the
alternator and exciter adding an extra 17 tons.
The old Nationals, which stood between the two present engines, were finally scrapped in late 1954. The only things known to survive from them that remain at the power station, include some recently rediscovered spark plugs, an air pressure guage, a few spanners, and a cylinder liner, upon which is mounted the station's 'homemade' bench grinder. Three magnetos are also still extant, including one that now belongs to a Manawatu Vintage Machinery Club member. Another is in Kati Kati, according to a reference in N.Z.Vintage Farming., issue 63, p.16. It is possible that the name plates (Engine serial numbers 385, 386 and 387) also survive in someone’s collection. A photo exists of a crankcase. Unfortunately, at the time it was on the back of Percy Foot's truck - and he was dismantling these engines. It was, therefore, destined to become scrap.
The
power station, however, retains a significant amount of the plant installed by
Turnbull & Jones in 1923, including the original
electrical control gear,
manufactured by Reyrolle Ltd. The electrical controls for these are mounted on
an impressive brown and white tiled switchboard on the balcony overlooking the
engines. Also, the four large compressed air cylinders, still used to supply
high pressure air (300 psi) to start the engines, are mounted on the wall
beneath the switchboard balcony.
The power station generated electricity regularly until the Cook Strait cable was completed in 1965. It then remained on stand-by. It is understood that a survey conducted on the country’s operational power stations in the 1980s, found this power station to be the most expensive one of all to operate. Thus, it would be the absolute last in New Zealand to call on in times of need - and then only to assist at times of peak loadings.
Still
its aged and extremely expensive services were called upon once again. The last
time the British Polar diesels were run for the purpose they were intended, was
in 1992. At that time, the low level of the southern lakes supplying the
hydro-power stations saw them pressed back into service to supplement the
city’s power supply. Some people, and not only men, cautiously admit to going
outside on cold evenings just to hear them drumming monotonously away, like two
very oversized ‘V8s’, above the sounds of the city. An interesting piece of
the material now on display in the building, dates to this time. This was the
result of a piston and liner from Engine 215 seizing this opportunity to seize
themselves, due to problems in the oil cooling system in the piston.
At present Engine 216 runs but could not generate electricity. Its alternator is unserviceable due to cracked insulators mounted in the pit underneath. Does anyone have any replacements? Engine 215 has been run since PNEPS Inc. took it over, but achieving that requires intensive use of its hand-operated engine oil priming pump - amongst other minor disruptive things. The more urgently needed Zip water heater in the kitchen required only a five minute overhaul. That indicates the degree of 'run-down' that had occurred over the building's last in-service years.
In the mid-1980s, the landmark water cooling towers were removed when Keith Street was extended down the hill to Napier Road, thereby passing only metres from the power station doors. The present exhaust pipes were installed at that time. The power station's driveway had wound its way up the hill from Napier Road from a front entrance between the Terrace End Cemetery's sexton's house, and the two (of three) houses that served as the power station's staff accommodation. For a while, the lower portion of present day Keith Street was called Cessna Street. Now, though, Cessna Street has been shortened to a cul de sac that protrudes from Keith Street opposite the power station.
The retort building, also built of brick and which had been separated from the power station by Cessna/Keith Street, was demolished in 1994 - and the power station seemed fated to head the same way.
The Palmerston North Municipal Electricity Department/Electropower
One of the assets those hoping to preserve the power station are very lucky to have, is Karen Morgan’s MA history thesis on Palmerston North’s Municipal Electricity Department (later Electropower). Entitled Power to the People? The Palmerston North Electricity Department, 1910-1996, it was completed in late 1996 at the time when Electropower ceased to exist. Karen found that the power station’s survival reflected the Council’s stubbornness and disinclination to submit to pressure from MOEPB and the Government to close it down.
Karen
recorded some quite bitter political battles between these parties. For example,
at midnight on 30 June 1935, MOEPB cut the power supply to Palmerston North in an attempt to force the MED to put its prices up to the same level
that MOEPB was charging its customers.
In
December 1996, Electropower was sold by the Palmerston North City Council to
Centralpower, the company supplying the surrounding district (formerly the
aforementioned MOEPB). As they had no use for the old power station and its
plant, Centralpower chose to forgo the honour of owning them and thus they
remained the property of the City Council.
The
future of the power station was discussed at a City Council meeting in February
1997. However, the disposal of the building was delayed when some councillors
expressed concern that the public had not had the chance to consider preserving
the building and plant, in light of its importance as an industrial heritage
site. (Two offers of between $60,000 and $70,000 had been made for land and
building - which includes the five very substantial concrete engine
foundations.)
Because
of the growing awareness of the building’s historic value, on Sunday, 23
March, a hastily arranged open day, organised by the Manawatu Branch Committee
of the N.Z. Historic Places Trust, was held at the power station. In the course
of the two hours or so in which the building was officially open to the public,
around 350 people, including the Mayor and nine city councillors, took the
opportunity to visit the building. Engine 216 was started during the afternoon
(albeit only for about 5-10 minutes at a time due to the noise) to demonstrate
the point of preserving not only the building, but also of maintaining the plant
in working condition.
The next day, the council unanimously agreed to withdraw the property from sale, and to give interested people the chance to come up with a proposal to save it. The Manawatu Evening Standard responded on 25 May by featuring both a front page photo, as well as an article on the open day and the subsequent development - and a very positive editorial.
On 26 May, a meeting of concerned people was held at the building to
form a committee, and, as a result, what became Palmerston North Electric Power Station
Incorporated (PNEPS), was born. The initial committee, chaired by local businessman, Paul Burr,
included
the former power station superintendent, Paddy Murphy, Colin Stevenson of the
Tokomaru Steam Museum, electrical and engineering tradespeople, members of the
Manawatu Vintage Machinery Club, Steam Traction Society, Historic Places Trust
Branch Committee and other interested local people.
Since
that time, PNEPS has been formalised and a lease entered into with the City
Council to have
the building made available as a working theme museum. This will focus on the
history of electricity in general and as it developed locally. Needless to say,
this stage of the transformation is the slow part where the pitfalls reveal
themselves - by no means the least of which being the occasional break in and
some damage to the facility.
The Palmerston North Electric Power Station is one of very few of its era and type in New Zealand that is still substantially operational (albeit affected by significant copper thefts), although there are older hydro-power stations.
Two power stations, so far, are known to have claims in common with Palmerston North’s. The Marlborough Power Board’s power station at Springlands was still fully operational and on-line in 1997 when this article was researched. It is powered by two diesel engines, a 6-cylinder, 650 BHP Paxman (installed about 1930) and a 1,300 BHP 6-cylinder, 2-stroke Harland & Wolfe (installed 1937). Also used in 1992 during the power shortage, it had generated electricity in February 1997, for six hours, following a line failure. The Marlborough Vintage Machinery Club, which looks after the plant at Springlands, has run these engines occasionally and members have expressed interest in some day converting this building into an electrical museum.
The old Napier Power Station, now the Faraday Centre, recently underwent extensive renovations to strengthen the building and to convert it into a museum. The theme of this museum is power in its various forms, including water, steam, wind, horse, etc., as well as from electricity. This building, which dates from 1913-14, still has its 600 BHP English Electric Fullagar Diesel engine on site, although this engine (installed 1926) is no longer operational. It is the sole survivor of its horsepower.
Another less fortunate contender was the Karamea Power Station, which was demolished in 1998. Its 7-cylinder Ruston-Hornsby VER generating plant (about 400 BHP) was also disposed of.
Are
you aware of any
other power stations of this type around New Zealand that are still operational
or at least largely intact? PNEPS is very keen to locate them.
It
is clear that Palmerston North’s power station is unique due to its age, its
condition, its durability in political terms and the size of its engines. This,
along with its location in a city and adjoining a State Highway (SH 3 / Napier
Rd.) and its proposed transformation into a working theme museum, make it an
ideal future tourist attraction and educational facility for the region. If the
enthusiasts involved with preserving the building have their way, this worthy
idea will journey through the inevitably long and labour-intensive development process,
to in due course become a reality.
Compiled by Bruce Burr & Val Burr, of the PNEPS committee, and based on their earlier article published in the August 1997 edition of the magazine Vintage Farming (now Vintage Scene).
Val and Bruce acknowledge the material obtained from Karen Morgan’s MA thesis “Power to the People? The Palmerston North Electricity Department, 1910-1996”, (Dept. of History, Massey University, 1996). They would also like to thank Ian Le Grice, of the Marlborough Vintage Machinery Club, for information on the Springlands Power Station; David Prebensen, of the Hawkes Bay Cultural Trust-Faraday Centre, for information on Napier’s Faraday Centre/formerly Power Station; a representative of Buller Electricity Ltd. regarding the Karamea Power Station; and the Palmerston North City Archives, which gave access to a wide range of related material.
Last updated: 30/3/2001
