Power Supply
Power to the complex was initially provided by a coal fired furnace which heated water which was then circulated around the complex to provide heating and 100 kW hydro power station in the Whakapapanui Stream which provided power for lighting and cooking.
By the early 1950s the existing power supplies at the complex were becoming inadequate. In June 1952 the Ministry of Works requested the King Country Electric Power Board to provide a 500 to 600 kW power supply to the Chateau. This resulted in a 8.5 mile long overhead 11 kV transmission line being constructed and commissioned in 1955. This not only supplied power to the chateau but also to the Whakapapa ski field and to several mountain huts on Mount Ruapehu.
In the early 1960s a second line was constructed and commissioned in 1964 by the King Country Electric Power Board to improve the reliability of supply to the Chateau and to other customers in the area.
Read more about this topic: Chateau Tongariro
Famous quotes containing the words power and/or supply:
“Perfect happiness I believe was never intended by the deity to be the lot of any one of his creatures in this world; but that he has very much put in our power the nearness of our approaches to it, is what I steadfastly believe.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“The job of the press is to encourage debate, not to supply the public with information.”
—Christopher Lasch (b. 1932)