NEW FREE-PISTON GENERATING MACHINERY IN ST. JAMES POWER STATION

Dr Thio Chan Bee asked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that the new free-piston generating machinery installed in the St. James Power Station is no longer functioning properly, and what steps will be taken to avoid any danger of a sudden shortage of electricity leading to blackouts and rationing.

The Prime Minister: Sir, it is not a question of the St. James Power Station no longer functioning properly because the new plant has not yet been put into commission.

A tender for the construction of a Free Piston Gas Turbine Generating Plant at the St. James Power Station was accepted by the previous City Council in March 1957 to replace the obsolete and worn out steam plant which was then no longer serviceable. Construction and installation was completed towards the end of 1959, but the City Council has not - I repeat - has not yet taken over the plant as it has not passed the reliability test because of faulty materials and the technical modifications necessary. Defective parts are being replaced by the manufacturers free of charge. The plant is expected to be available for full commission by September 1962.

As regards the maintenance of electricity supplies, the Pasir Panjang Power Station Extension Scheme is now in progress and a seventh 25,000 K.W. turbo generator is scheduled for completion in June this year. Furthermore, a new power station to meet the needs of industrial expansion is also being built and a World Bank loan is being sought for this. The consultants for this project are already in Singapore.

The first phase of the new station is for plant capable of generating 60 M.W. which is scheduled for commission in 1965. With these developments, it is not expected that there will be any sudden shortage of supply in the future. On the contrary, our total generating plant, once installed, should enable us to meet our expanding needs, including the Jurong Industrial Development project. However, I may add that the failure of the free-piston plant has been a great disappointment. The new plant was intended for peak loads and there have been anxious moments lately on this account during peak periods. It is possible that these may recur again between now and when the extension scheme in Pasir Panjang is ready in June this year. It is doubtful if the City Council should have agreed to install a free-piston plant. They were advised in 1957 that such a plant had not been proved and tested on such a scale and that St. James was to be the biggest of its kind in the world, and the present City Electricity Engineer was opposed to this project. But, however, as I have stated we have not as yet taken over the plant.

Mr Rajah: Sir, is the difficulty with the St. James Power Station not really one of improper supervision which has led to the present position?

The Prime Minister: Sir, from time to time, I have been troubled by the faults of what has been going on. In fact, the City Electricity Engineer had been sent to the New Hebrides in order to restore his confidence in the free-piston engine - I was told - not because of the improper supervision but because this was the first time that a free-piston engine was installed on such a scale and not by the original patentees of the free-piston engine. I do not understand the technical intricacies of the term "free-piston", but I am told that it is something quite new. It is a gas turbine and it was developed by the French. In 1957, Mr Chan Kum Chee - I think he was the Chairman of the Public Utilities Sub-Committee - was persuaded, in spite of The views of the City Electricity Engineer, to undertake this project. Tenders were called for to install a free-piston engine although it had never been attempted on such a large scale and the tender was given not to the original French patentees but to an English firm which was going to manufacture under licence. It had sent the best qualified men to supervise and install this machine and there had been an endless amount of trouble since the trial test. The City Electricity Engineer lost confidence in the machine. To restore it, the World Bank team, which was out here at that time studying our request for a World Bank loan for the industrial project we had in mind, recommended - I think the gentleman's name was Monsieur Shereschewsky; the Minister for Finance is not here but I think it was Monsieur Shereschewsky - that the City Electricity Engineer, Mr Fuiczek, be sent to the New Hebrides where they had installed a free-piston engine which works. Well, he has seen that one work. I am told he is quite convinced that given time and the necessary modifications and materials, ours will work and it is hoped that by September 1962 it will work. But it has nothing to do with supervision. It was the best that the firm had available and the pity was that it was not good enough because they did not invent the free-piston engine.

Mr Rajah: Is it not correct that the work was undertaken sometime in 1958 for the first time when the P.A.P. was in power in the City Council under the guidance of Mayor Ong Eng Guan and the work really started then? If so, could the Prime Minister not inform this House - from the files in his possession he will surely know - that this has resulted from improper supervision rather than from an improper decision of the City Council?

The Prime Minister: I beg to differ, much as I would like to explain things away in such an easy and facile manner. I think I must be quite fair in saying that I am not suggesting that Mr Chan Kum Chee made an improper decision in giving the tender. All I am saying is that he was advised not to try something new and he went on to try it. The tenders and all were already completed when the P.A.P. came into the City Council in December 1957. The project was one which was already on the cards as far as the City Council which the P.A.P. inherited was concerned.

Mr Rajah: If the Prime Minister has looked into the files - and I expect he has looked into them - would he not agree with me that it was not Mr Chan Kum Chee who made the decision but that it was the City Council as a whole that made the decision?

The Prime Minister: I do not dispute that in the ultimate analysis it was the City Council as a whole, but it was he, as the Chairman of the Public Utilities Sub-Committee, who recommended this over the views of the City Electricity Engineer. As it turned out, he was wrong.

Mr Rajah: Mr Speaker, Sir, if only the Prime Minister will look a little deeper into those files he will find that it was done on the recommendation of the then Electrical Engineer. Mr Fuiczek, who is now the present Electrical Engineer, was merely an employee of that Department.

The Prime Minister: I will have further research done on the files for the benefit of all Members concerned in order that history can do justice and accurately apportion the blame which I am sure the manufacturers shoulder fairly and squarely.

Mr Rajah: The Prime Minister has said that, as a result of the extensions at Pasir Panjang, the first intake of supply will be in 1965.

The Prime Minister: No, June 1962.

Mr Rajah: I beg your pardon.