Mangahao Power Station is a hydroelectric power station near the town of Shannon,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. After being delayed by

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, access road construction and foundation testing was started by late 1919 and the station opened in November 1924. It makes use of the

Mangahao River The Mangahao River is located in the North Island of New Zealand. The headwaters are in the Tararua Ranges. The river flows northeast feeds into the Manawatu River south of Woodville. There are two dams on the river which tunnel water, via ...

, through a series of tunnels and pipelines totalling 4.8 kilometers in the Tararua Ranges. It is jointly owned and operated by

Todd Energy The Todd Corporation is a large private New Zealand company with a value of $4.3 billion, owned and controlled by the Todd family and headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand. The corporation is currently led by chairman of the board, Henry Tait ...

and

King Country Energy Manawa Energy Limited, formerly Trustpower, is a New Zealand electricity generation company that offers bespoke electricity products to commercial and industrial customers across New Zealand. Manawa Energy has 26 hydro-electricity schemes, with a ...

History

When commissioned, Mangahao Power Station had cost £1,493,456, caused the deaths of 8 tunnellers from

carbon monoxide poisoning Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as " flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large ...

, an explosion and crushing, and was the main power station serving the lower North Island, with transmission lines connecting Mangahao with

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

Whanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whang ...

, Masterton, Napier and

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

. The power station was connected through to the Waikaremoana hydro scheme in 1929 and through to Arapuni Dam in 1934, forming the basis of the North Island transmission grid. Mangahao was officially opened by the Prime Minister,

William Massey William Ferguson Massey (26 March 1856 – 10 May 1925), commonly known as Bill Massey, was a politician who served as the 19th prime minister of New Zealand from May 1912 to May 1925. He was the founding leader of the Reform Party, New Zea ...

, on 3 November 1924. It was one of his last public duties before he died. Supply expanded as transmission equipment was built: * 3 November 1924: 11 kV line to Shannon to supply the Horowhenua Power Board, replacing a steam plant. * 19 December 1924: Mangahao- Bunnythorpe 110 kV west line, temporarily operating at 11 kV, to supply Manawatu- Oroua Power Board and Palmerston North Borough Council. * 24 December 1924 (full supply 10 March 1925): Mangahao-

Khandallah Khandallah is a suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. It is located northeast of the city centre, on hills overlooking Wellington Harbour. Description The northeastern part of the suburb is dominated by a large area of park ...

110 kV east and west lines, Khandallah substation, and Khandallah-

Petone Petone (Māori: ''Pito-one''), a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. The Māori name means "end of the sand beach". Europeans first settled in P ...

11kV line to supply Hutt Valley Power Board. * 26 March 1925: Supply from Khandallah substation to Wellington City Council for testing. Their Evans Bay steam plant assisted with peak-reduction and supplied some power back to Khandallah substation. * March 1925: Mangahao-Bunnythorpe 110 kV east line and Bunnythorpe substation, giving full supply to Manawatu-Oroua Power Board. * 6 April 1925: Bunnythorpe- Woodville 110 kV line and Woodville switching station. * 7 April 1925: Woodville- Mangamaire 110 kV line and Mangamaire substation to supply the Tararua Power Board * 17 May 1925: Mangamaire- Masterton 110 kV line and Masterton substation to supply the Wairarapa Power Board * 19 May 1925: Woodville- Dannevirke line 110kV line and Dannevirke substation to supply the Dannevirke Power Board * 26 August 1925: Khandallah-

Ngauranga Ngauranga is a suburb of New Zealand's capital city, Wellington, in the lower North Island. Situated on the western bank of Wellington Harbour, it lies to the north of the centre of the city. The name comes from the Māori language, Maori-langua ...

11 kV line to supply the Wellington Meat Export Company. *14 September 1925: Dannevirke-

Waipukurau Waipukurau is the largest town in the Central Hawke's Bay District on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on the banks of the Tukituki River, 7 kilometres south of Waipawa and 50 kilometres southwest of Hastings. ...

110 kV line and Waipukurau substation to supply the Central Hawke's Bay Power Board *23 April 1926: Bunnythorpe-Wanganui 110 kV line and Wanganui substation to supply the Wanganui-Rangitikei Power Board *8 April 1927: Waipukurau-Napier 110kV line and Napier substation to supply the Hawke's Bay Power Board. The scheme was first considered by

Peter Seton Hay Peter Seton Hay (1852–19 March 1907) was a New Zealand civil engineer and public servant. He was born in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland on 12 July 1852. He was brought to Dunedin in April 1860. In 1875, he joined the Public Works Department ...

and developed by Frederick Kissel. Earthquake strengthening was done in 1983 and 2015. In 2004 the original two smaller generating sets were replaced by a Francis turbine unit and, with upgrades, the station capacity is now .

References

External links

Energy infrastructure completed in 1924 Hydroelectric power stations in New Zealand Buildings and structures in Manawatū-Whanganui
Beneath the Tararua Ranges (page down)
{{NewZealand-powerstation-stub

History

References

Further reading

External links