Reefton Power Station

Reefton Power Station supplied electricity to the very prosperous gold mining town of Reefton in New Zealand and was the first power station to supply municipal electricity in the Southern Hemisphere.[1] It started operation on 4 August 1888.[2]

Reefton Power Station
Reefton power station 1904. The building in the centre foreground is the original power house commissioned in 1888. Water arrives at the penstock in timber fluming on the right delivered by a water-race and tunnel from an intake at Black's Point. The vertical turbine is hidden from view by the powerhouse containing the belt-driven generator. The tail race carries spent water to the river at the left of the powerhouse.
CountryNew Zealand
LocationReefton
Coordinates42°7.291′S 171°52.171′E
StatusDecommissioned
Commission date1888
Decommission date1949
Owner(s)1888 – The Reefton Electrical Transmission of Power and Lighting Company Ltd
1946 – Grey Electric Power Board
Thermal power station
Primary fuelHydroelectric and steam
The power station turbine room 2008

Reefton man George Rich Wylde (1858-1942), grandson of Henry Wylde senior, brought samples of Edison and Swan electric lamps back from a visit to Victoria, Australia returning on 8 January 1883 and a public meeting was called to consider an electricity generating and distribution enterprise for Reefton.[3] Ross & Glendinning had been lighting one of their Dunedin factories with electricity since 1882.[4]

The decision to build a power station was taken in 1886, following a demonstration of electric lighting in four Reefton hotels. The demonstration was organised by amateur electrician Walter Prince.[5]

The power station turbine was run by water supplied from the Inangahua River via two tunnels and a headrace flume. The Grey Electric Power Board purchased the scheme in 1946.[2] After the town was connected to the National Grid in 1949 the power station was decommissioned. The power house was demolished in 1961.[2]

The Reefton Power Station was recognised by Heritage New Zealand as a Category 2 Historic Place on the 30th August 1990 (List no. 5002).[6]

Parts of the original structure remain and are accessible via a walking track,[7] and there are plans for restoration of the site. A Trust was formed in 2012 with the goal of restoring the historic powerplant.[8] Stage 1 of this planned restoration was completed on April 11, 2015. This included new signage, riverbank preservation and walking track restoration.

In September 2020 a new 4 tonne turbine costing $800,000 was delivered as part of a $5M restoration project.[8]

  • The Bottled Lightning walking trail takes visitors across the Inangahua River to the site of the powerhouse

See also

References
  1. New Zealand Historical Atlas – McKinnon, Malcolm (Editor); David Bateman, 1997, Plate 88
  2. "Reefton Power Station". Engineering New Zealand. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  3. Inangahua Times 24 January 1883 Page 2
  4. The Rotarian May 1960. Vol. 96, No. 5 ISSN 0035-838X published by Rotary International accessed 26 October 2020
  5. "Reefton Power Station | Engineering New Zealand". www.engineeringnz.org. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  6. "Search the List | Reefton Power House Foundations | Heritage New Zealand". www.heritage.org.nz. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  7. "Reefton short walks" (PDF). Department of Conservation. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  8. "Turbine arrives in town". Greymouth Evening Star. 22 September 2020.


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