LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
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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 Guangdong Nuclear Power Station will comprise two 985mw pressurised water reactors which are scheduled for commissioning in 1993 and 1994 respectively. About 70 per cent of the power from the station will be purchased by CLP to meet part of the longer-term demand for electricity in its area of supply.
The new Electricity Ordinance enacted in 1990 provides among other things for the registration of electrical workers and contractors. To ensure that electrical work is carried out by qualified personnel, only registered electrical workers and contractors are allowed to practise with effect from June 1, 1992. To be eligible for registration, they must possess the necessary experience and qualifications. The registration of electrical workers and contractors started in November 1990 and November 1991 respectively. By the end of 1992, 50 706 and 6 118 qualified electrical workers and contractors had been registered.
In May 1990, the government decided that the electricity supply voltage in Hong Kong should be upgraded from 200 volts single phase or 346 volts three phase to 220 volts single phase or 380 volts three phase. A Supply Voltage Advisory Committee was appointed in February 1991 to advise on the implementation of voltage upgrading in the territory. The voltage upgrading is planned to be carried out in two phases and to be completed in about six years. Phase I conversions, covering existing installations inside government buildings, started in August 1990 and was completed in November 1992. Phase II conversions will cover existing installations in Housing Authority and private sector buildings. This phase commenced in January 1993 and will take about four years to complete.
Main electricity statistics and sales figures are at Appendix 36.
Gas
Gas is widely used throughout the territory for domestic, commercial and industrial purposes. Two main types of fuel gas are available: Towngas, distributed by Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited (HKCG); and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), supplied by major oil companies based in Hong Kong, namely Shell, Mobil, Esso, Caltex, Hong Kong Oil, China Resources and British Petroleum. Towngas is mainly supplied as a manufactured gas, but for some customers substitute natural gas (SNG) is supplied under the Towngas trademark. The constituents of LPG are butane and propane mixed in approximate proportions of 75 and 25 per cent respectively.
The total number of gas customers in Hong Kong is about 1.86 million. In 1992, Towngas accounted for 63 per cent of the total fuel gas sold in energy terms and LPG for 37 per cent.
HKCG manufactures Towngas at two plants, one at Ma Tau Kok and the other in the Tai Po Industrial Estate. Both use naphtha as a feedstock. They currently have output capacities of 2.2 and 8.4 million cubic metres per day respectively.
Towngas is distributed through an integrated distribution system to about 910 thousand 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 and Tai Po, Yuen Long and Tsing Yi Island. HKCG is currently constructing a 90km network of 600mm diameter transmission pipeline in the New Territories. The new transmission line is