3
use local contractors for the civil works. However CIP appeared anxious that the CEGB should also act as civil engineering consultants. The CEGB said that their preferred consultants for those aspects which they could not do themselves were Mouchel.
(ii) site selection: there were two possible sites on
Lan Tau island. Since a public decision from the Hong Kong Government was expected this month specifically nominating the island for the power station development the CEGB team had advised CLP to commission a site survey immediately.
(iii)
price: CLP had underlined the need for a competitively priced package; the team had been told that CLP would expect a fixed price within two per cent of normal market prices. The company also put particular emphasis on having reliable and efficient equipment. This, they felt, could be ensured by giving as many UK companies as possible the opportunity to compete for the possibility of supplying the package.
In discussion the following points were made:
(i) The CEGB view was that the package should include
all 4 x 350 MW units for the new power station, plus the transmission equipment to the mainland, as these were basic to CLP requirements. In addition GEC should be consulted about the possibility of including the extra gas turbines for CLP's existing power stations. The CEGB did not think it would be practicable to include in the package the transmission network on the mainland as the feasibility study which CLP had commissioned from BEIL had not yet been accepted and was unlikely to be completed until September.
(ii) The CEGB team had been continually reminded that
(iii)
the equipment supplied from the UK should be reliable. CLP had made much of the problems they had had with faulty UK machinery in the past but this appeared only to concern one or two particular items. (CLP had also admitted to having problems with some Japanese equipment). CLP's main anxiety appeared to be that the items supplied in the UK package would not be selected by the main companies on the basis of quality. The CEGB would therefore need to discuss the choice of suppliers with the principal companies so as to satisfy themselves on this.
As far as further suppliers were concerned, the CEGB considered that BICC would be the most suitable company to supply the Lan Tau- mainland link. Mr Macdonald said that the Department would follow this up with BICC/Balfour Beatty.