LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
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CAPCO is 60 per cent owned by Exxon Energy Limited and 40 per cent by CLP, while the associated transmission and distribution systems are wholly owned by CLP. CLP's transmission system operates at 400kV, 132kV and 66kV, and distribution is effected mainly at 33 kV, 11kV and 380 volts.
CLP has more than 173 primary and over 7916 secondary sub-stations in its trans- mission and distribution network. An extra high voltage transmission system at 400kV was completed in 1986 to transmit power from the Castle Peak Stations to the various load centres. Currently it comprises a double-circuit overhead line system encircling the New Territories, underground cables and eight extra high voltage sub-stations. Construction and planning work for the addition of new extra high voltage sub-stations and for reinforcement of the existing system is in progress.
In HEC's supply areas, electricity is supplied entirely from the Lamma Power Station. At the end of 1993, the total installed capacity at the Lamma Power Station was 2 605MW. There are plans to add a further 350MW unit to Lamma in late 1995.
HEC's transmission system operates at 275kV, 132kV and 66kV, and distribution is effected mainly at 11kV and 380 volts. With the exception of a small proportion of 132kV overhead transmission lines, all supplies are transmitted and distributed by underground or submarine cables.
The transmission systems of CLP and HEC are interconnected by a cross-harbour link. This provides emergency back-up and achieves cost savings to consumers through Feconomic energy transfers between the two systems and a reduction in the amount of generating capacity that needs to be kept as spinning reserve against the tripping of other units. The interconnection, commissioned in 1981, currently has a capacity of 720MVA.
CLP's system is also interconnected with that of the Guangdong General Power Company of China and electricity is exported to Guangdong province. Such sales, which are made from existing reserve generating capacity, are governed by an agreement with the government, signed in March 1992, under which CLP's consumers receive priority of supply and 80 per cent of the profit from the sales.
Also, in July 1985, CLP signed a contract with the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company Limited for the supply of electricity, for a 10-year period starting from late 1986, to the industrial zone of Shekou and the adjacent Chi Wan area, both in Guangdong. The arrangements, which afford Shekou 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.
CLP, through its affiliated company, the Hong Kong Pumped Storage Development Company Limited, has purchased the right to use 50 per cent of the capacity of the Guangzhou Pumped Storage Power Station, located at Conghua. The total installed capacity of the current phase is 1 200MW. The first two 300MW units were commissioned in 1993, with the other two scheduled for commissioning in 1994. Off-peak electricity from the Castle Peak Stations and Guangdong Nuclear Power Station is used to pump water from a lower reservoir to an upper one. The water is allowed to flow downhill during the day to generate electricity to meet Hong Kong's peak demand.
The 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