Electricity

The Hongkong Electric Company Limited (HEC) supplies Hong Kong
Island and the neighbouring islands of Ap Lei Chau and Lamma; China
Light and Power Company Limited (CLP) supplies Kowloon and the New
Territories, including Lantau and several outlying islands. The supply to
consumers is at a frequency of 50Hz alternating current while the voltage
is 220 volts single-phase and 380 volts three-phase.

The two supply companies are investor-owned and do not operate on a
franchise basis. The government monitors their performance through
mutually-agreed Scheme of Control Agreements. Current agreements with
CLP and HEC came into effect on October 1, 1993 and January 1, 1994,
respectively. Both will last for 15 years and interim reviews will be carried
out in 1998 and 2003. The agreements require each company to seek the
government's approval for certain aspects of their financing plans,
including projected tariff levels.

Electricity for HEC's supply areas is supplied from the Lamma Power
Station. At the end of 1997, total installed capacity at the Lamma Power
Station was 3 305MW.

HEC's transmission system operates at 275kV, 132kV and 66kV and
distribution is effected mainly at 11kV and 380 volts. Apart from a small
proportion of 132kV overhead transmission lines, all supplies are
transmitted and distributed by underground or submarine cables.

The Castle Peak Power Company Limited (CAPCO), which is 60 per cent
owned by Exxon Energy Limited and 40 per cent by CLP, supplies
electricity to CLP from its Black Point (1 250MW), Castle Peak
(4 168MW) and Penny's Bay (300MW) Power Stations, with the total
installed capacity being 5 718MW. Tsing Yi 'A' and 'B' power stations
(1 520MW) as well as seven gas turbine units (442MW) at Tsing Yi and
Castle Peak were decommissioned in stages over 1994, 1995 and 1997.

The government has approved CLP's installation of four more 312MW
generators in the new power station at Black Point, Tuen Mun. Two are
planned to be commissioned in 1998 and 1999. The remaining two units
will be commissioned between 2003 and 2006 subject to a review in
1999. All will be fuelled by natural gas piped from the Yacheng 13-1 gas
field off Hainan Island in China.

The associated transmission and distribution systems are wholly owned
by CLP. Its transmission system operates at 400kV, 132kV and 66kV,
and distribution is effected mainly at 33kV, 11kV and 380 volts.

The CLP and HEC transmission systems are interconnected by a
cross-harbour link. This provides emergency back-up and achieves cost
savings to consumers through economic energy transfers between the
two systems and a reduction in the amount of generating capacity that
needs to be kept as spinning reserve against the tripping of other units.
The interconnection, commissioned in 1981, has a capacity of 720 MVA.

CLP's system is also interconnected with that of the Guangdong Electric
Power Holding Company (formerly named the Guangdong General Power
Company) of China and electricity is exported to Guangdong Province.
Such sales are made from existing reserve generating capacity and are
governed by an agreement with the government, signed in March 1992,
under which CLP's consumers receive priority of supply and 80 per cent
of the profit from the sales.

CLP has a contract with the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company
Limited for the supply of electricity, for 20 years starting from late 1986,
to the industrial zone of Shekou and the adjacent Chi Wan area, both in
Guangdong. The arrangements, which afford Shekou a reliable electricity
supply without subsidy from Hong Kong consumers, is illustrative of the
close co-operation on energy matters which has developed between
Guangdong and Hong Kong.

In 1985, the Hong Kong Nuclear Investment Company (a wholly-owned
subsidiary of CLP) and the Guangdong Nuclear Investment Company
(wholly owned by the Chinese Ministry of Nuclear Industry) established
the Guangdong Nuclear Power Joint Venture Company, to build and
operate a nuclear power station at Daya Bay in Guangdong. This
comprises two 985MW pressurised water reactors which went into
commercial operation in February and May 1994, respectively. CLP
undertook to buy about 70 per cent of the station's power to meet part of
the longer-term demand for electricity in its supply area.

Through its affiliated company, the Hong Kong Pumped Storage
Development Company Limited, CLP has bought the right to use 50 per
cent of the capacity of the Guangzhou Pumped Storage Power Station, at
Conghua. The total installed capacity of the current phase is 1 200 MW.
Off-peak electricity from the CAPCO's system and Guangdong Nuclear
Power Station is used to pump water from a lower reservoir to an upper
one. The water is allowed to flow downhill during the day to generate
electricity to meet Hong Kong's peak demand.

The Electricity Ordinance, with its subsidiary regulations, is the main
enabling legislation on electricity safety. It aims to set out the legal
framework encompassing all the areas within which the concerned
legislation shall apply, including the registration of electrical workers and
contractors, and the safety standards and requirements for electricity
supply, electrical wiring and products.

To be eligible for electrical worker registration under the Ordinance,
applicants must possess the necessary experience and qualifications. The
Vocational Training Council, Hong Kong Examinations Authority,
University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Polytechnic University regularly
organise trade tests and examinations for applicants to acquire the
necessary qualifications for registration. As at December 1997, more than
8 200 electrical contractors and 53 000 workers held valid registration.

To ensure electrical safety, fixed electrical installations in certain specified
types of premises are required to be inspected, tested and certified
periodically. Moreover, regulation to ensure the supply of safe plugs and
adapters came into effect in March 1995. More comprehensive
legislation, which provides statutory control over the safety of all
electrical products designed for household use and supplied in Hong Kong
will be put into operation in May 1998.

In 1997, to enforce the Electricity Ordinance, the government conducted
5 460 site inspections to check the safety standards of electrical
installations and electrical product supply outlets, and 53 prosecutions
were raised against violations.

The upgrading of electricity supply voltage from 200/346 volts to 220/380
volts has been carried out in two phases. Phase 1, covering installations
inside government buildings, started in 1990 and was completed in 1992.
Phase 2, covering remaining installations in buildings managed by the
Housing Authority and those in the private sector, began in 1993 and was
completed in 1997.

 

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