The Hongkong Electric Company Limited (HEC) supplies
Hong Kong Island and the neighbouring islands of Ap Lei Chau and
Lamma; CLP Power Hong Kong Limited (CLP Power) supplies Kowloon
and the New Territories, including Lantau and several outlying islands.
The supply to consumers is at 50Hz alternating current while the
voltage is 220 volts single-phase and 380 volts three-phase.
The two supply companies are investor-owned. The
Government monitors the two companies through mutually agreed Scheme
of Control Agreements. Current agreements with CLP Power and HEC
came into effect on October 1, 1993, and January 1, 1994, respectively.
Both will last for 15 years. The first and second five-yearly interim
reviews were completed in early 1999 and late 2003, respectively.
The agreements require each company to seek the approval of the
Government for certain aspects of their financial plans, including
projected tariff levels. The agreements do not grant the companies
any exclusive rights. They are not franchises, nor do they define
a supply area for either company or exclude new entrants to the
market.
Electricity for HEC's supply areas is supplied
from the Lamma Power Station. At year-end, total installed capacity
(i.e. rated power output of generators) at the Lamma Power Station
was 3 420 megawatts (MW). In May 2000, the Government approved
HEC's new power station at the Lamma Extension and the installation
of the first 300MW gas combined-cycle generator. The unit was scheduled
to be commissioned in 2004. Subsequent to the review conducted at
end-2003, the Government agreed with HEC's proposal to defer the
commissioning of the unit to 2006. HEC's transmission system operates
at 275 kilovolts (kV), 132kV and 66kV and distribution is effected
mainly at 22kV, 11kV and 380 volts.
The Castle Peak Power Company Limited (CAPCO),
which is 60 per cent owned by ExxonMobil Energy Limited (formerly
known as Exxon Energy Limited) and 40 per cent by CLP Power, supplies
electricity to CLP Power from its Black Point (1 875MW), Castle
Peak (4 108MW) and Penny's Bay (300MW) power stations, with the
total installed capacity being 6 283MW. Two more 312.5MW generators
are scheduled to be commissioned at the Black Point power station
during 2005-06.
CLP Power wholly owns the associated transmission
and distribution systems. Its transmission system operates at 400kV
and 132kV, and distribution is effected mainly at 33kV, 11kV and
380 volts.
The CLP Power 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
link currently has a total capacity of 720 megavolt-amperes (MVA)
(i.e. 720 000 kilovolt-amperes (kVA)).
CLP Power's transmission system is also interconnected
with the electricity network in Guangdong Province which facilitates
the export and import of electricity to and from the province. The
electricity sales to Guangdong are made from existing reserve generating
capacity of CLP Power and are governed by an agreement with the
Government, under which CLP Power's consumers receive priority of
supply and 80 per cent of the profit from the sales.
In 1985, the Hong Kong Nuclear Investment Company
Limited (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the CLP Holdings Limited)
and the Guangdong Nuclear Investment Company Limited (now wholly
owned by the China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Company Limited)
established the Guangdong Nuclear Power Joint Venture Company Limited,
to build and operate the Guangdong Nuclear Power Station at Daya
Bay in Guangdong. This station comprises two 984MW pressurised water
reactors which went into commercial operation in February and May
1994, respectively. CLP Power 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 Power has the right
to use 50 per cent of the 1 200MW capacity of Phase 1 of the
Guangzhou Pumped Storage Power Station, at Conghua. Off-peak electricity
from the CAPCO system and the 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.
Three-year Demand Side Management (DSM) Agreements
between the Government and the two power companies expired in June
2003. All power companies' DSM programmes were completed in early
2004.
The Electricity Ordinance, with its subsidiary
regulations, is the main enabling legislation on electrical safety.
It sets out the legal framework encompassing all the areas within
which the concerned legislation shall apply, including the registration
of electrical contractors/workers and competent persons, the safety
standards and requirements for electricity supply, electricity supply
lines, electrical wiring and products.
In 2004, the Electrical and Mechanical Services
Department started revising the code of practice on working near
electricity supply lines, which has come into operation since 2000,
to provide up-to-date guidelines on how to comply with the requirements
of the Electricity Supply Lines (Protection) Regulation.
Since 1990, regulations concerning the registration
of electrical contractors and workers, the safety of electrical
wiring, the supply of safe household electrical products, and the
protection of electricity supply lines from third party damage have
come into effect in stages. At December 2004, some 8 700 electrical
contractors and 61 000 electrical workers held valid registration.
Also, some 700 competent persons had been approved for locating
underground electricity cables.
During enforcement of the Electricity Ordinance
in 2004, the Government conducted 12 600 site inspections to
check the safety standards of electrical installations and electrical
product supply outlets, and prosecution action was initiated in
207 cases.
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