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14
Providing the Power
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Rising demand for energy in Hong Kong has spurred major power development programmes to meet the needs of its manu- facturing and service industries, and a heavier domestic consumption resulting from better standards of living. The two main electricity companies have commis- sioned new plants: at Castle Peak, to serve Kowloon and the New Territories and on Lamma Island to provide power for nearby Hong Kong Island, as well as Lamma and Ap Lei Chau. These massive schemes will ensure that electricity require- ments are met until late into the 1990s. Generators at the new plants are designed to be fired by either coal or oil, with coal at present the preferred fuel on grounds of cost and availability. Even so, with oil exploration underway in the South China Sea, exciting prospects may emerge for Hong Kong. The territory is well- positioned to play a major role as a service centre for offshore exploration and sub- sequently as a support base in any oil field development. An area of land on Lantau Island has already been pin-pointed as such a base. And one of Hong Kong's oldest industries, shipbuilding, has con- tributed to the energy industry's world- wide requirements with the launching of the first locally-built offshore jack-up oil rig during the year. With gas as another important source of power, an extensively redeveloped Towngas plant in Kowloon became fully operational in May. Solar power, a natural source of energy, is also being used for lighting and water heating in some commercial buildings. And feasi- bility studies into the construction of a joint China-Hong Kong nuclear power station in Guangdong continue.
Previous page: Advanced technology comes to tranquil Lamma Island with the construction of a power station to serve Hong Kong's electricity needs. Left: A solar-powered lighthouse aids shipping approaching Victoria Harbour; solar panels heat the water supplies for a Tsim Sha Tsui office block; early 1900s gas lamps retained in Central District.