Page:Municipal Handbook of Auckland 1922.djvu/179

 A water front site of nearly four acres at King's Wharf was acquired at a cost of £33,000. This was suitably situated for obtaining supplies of coal by rail and sea, and furnished an abundant supply of circulating water.

The Power Station at King's Wharf was put into operation in February, 1913, and the Freeman's Bay works were closed down.

The system of supply recommended by Mr. Goodman was three-wire direct current, with 460 volts between the outer wires. This was retained at the King's Wharf Station, to deal with the central City area, and provision was made for adding a high tension three-phase alternating current supply at 6,600 volts to deal with the outer areas. The capacity of the first installation at King's Wharf was 3,000 kilowatts.

In 1914, contracts were entered into for adding 2,200 kilowatts of direct current and 1,500 kilowatts of alternating current supply. Owing to the outbreak of war, these contracts were not finally completed until 1920.

From the beginning, the Council has steadily increased its area of operation.

In the year 1920, on the recommendation of Mr. Wyllie, it was decided to further increase the capacity of the King's Wharf Power Station by 13,000 kilowatts of alternating machinery, in order to provide sufficient power to combine the whole of the electric supply of