of the station will be 50,500 kw. The boiler plant capacity is 465,000 lbs., of which units amounting to a capacity of 185,000 lbs. have been converted to oil firing. Further new equipment consisting of a 20,000 kw. turbo alternator and a new oil-fired high pressure boiler has been ordered; the latter is expected to be installed by the end of 1949, but the generator will probably not be delivered before the second half of 1952.
During the course of the year, the charges for the supply of current have been reduced on four occasions. The following are the comparative figures for 1941, 1946 and 31st December, 1947:
Lighting
Power
Cooking & Heating
1941.
1946.
31st December, 1947.
18 cts.
71.28
40 cts.
+10%
cts.
7 cts.
27.72
18 cts.
+10%
cts.
5 cts.
19.8
13 cts.
+10%
cts.
The factors which have made these reductions possible are, apart from economy in the operation of the company's plant, the increase in sales of current during the year and the gradual elimination of thefts of current. During the course of the year, 483 new factories were connected to the Company's mains.
Gas.
The Hong Kong and China Gas Company, which supplies domestic gas to consumers on both sides of the harbour, was first established in the Colony in 1861.
The neglect to which the Company's plant was subjected during the enemy's occupation of the Colony has not yet been entirely remedied in spite of the intensive efforts of the Com- pany's staff. Great difficulty is being experienced in clearing mains which became choked during the war years, and supplies of replacement materials are still not satisfactory. A consider- able demand for new supplies of gas is being encountered, and is being met as speedily as the delivery of appliances and other essential materials will allow. In spite of difficulties, there has been a large increase in output during 1947 both in Hong Kong and Kowloon.
Progress has been made in the extension of street lighting during the past year, and further extensions are being made as rapidly as new supplies of lamps and standards to replace those destroyed during the occupation will permit.
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