210
LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
The transmission systems of CLP and HEC are interconnected by a cross-harbour link, thereby achieving cost savings to consumers through economic energy transfers between the two systems and a reduction in spinning reserve requirements. The interconnection, commissioned in 1981, now has a capacity of 480 MVA. Upon full completion, the total capacity will rise to 720 MVA.
CLP's system is also interconnected with that of Guangdong General Power Company of China and about four million units of electricity are transmitted to Guangdong Province each day. This interconnection results in better utilisation of the company's generating plant during periods of low demand. Also, CLP has signed a contract with the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company Limited for the supply of electricity for a period of ten years to the industrial zone of She Kou and the adjacent Che Wan area, both in Guangdong Province. The arrangement, which affords She Kou a reliable electricity supply without subsidy from Hong Kong consumers, is illustrative of the close co-operation on energy matters which has developed on both sides of the border.
On January 18, 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) signed the Joint Venture Contract for the formation of the Guangdong Nuclear Power Joint Venture Company, to construct and operate a nuclear power station at Daya Bay in Guangdong Province.
The Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station will comprise two 900 MW pressurised water reactors which are scheduled for commissioning in 1992 and 1993. About 70 per cent of the power generated from the station will be purchased by CLP to meet part of the longer term demand for electricity in its area of supply.
Main electricity statistics and sales figures are at Appendix 36.
Gas
Gas for domestic, commercial and industrial use in Hong Kong is supplied either as manufactured Towngas and substitute natural gas (SNG) by the Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited (HKCG) or in the form of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) by most of the major oil companies in Hong Kong. During 1988, manufactured Towngas and SNG accounted for 61 per cent of the total gas sold and LPG for about 39 per cent.
Two gas works, one at Ma Tau Kok and the other in the Tai Po Industrial Estate produce Towngas. Both use naphtha as a feedstock and currently have output capacities of 3.6 and 2.8 million cubic metres per day respectively. The calorific value of the gas produced is 17.3 MJ per cubic metre with a specific gravity of 0.56. Towngas is distributed through an integrated distribution system to some 560 000 customers for cooking and heating purposes. The mains network extends to the urban areas of Hong Kong Island, including Aberdeen, Repulse Bay, Stanley and Ap Lei Chau, Kowloon and many new towns in the New Territories including Sha Tin, Tai Po, and Tsing Yi Island. The company is currently constructing a 92 km network of transmission pipeline of 600 mm diameter in the New Territories. The new transmission line is designed to operate at elevated pressure and will provide an additional 0.3 million cubic metres of 'line pack' storage capacity.
Substitute natural gas is produced for piped distribution by HKCG at temporary plants in Yuen Long and Tuen Mun specifically operated for those two new town areas in the New Territories. The gas, which is produced from an LPG/air mix, has a calorific value of 51.8 MJ/m3 and a specific gravity of 1.37. It is expected that the plants will be decommissioned in 1991-2 when the high pressure transmission pipeline reaches the Yuen Long and Tuen Mun Areas.