LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
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The Electricity Ordinance, enacted in 1990, provides, among other things, for the registration of electrical workers and contractors. The registration of electrical workers and contractors started in November 1990 and November 1991, respectively. To be eligible for registration, applicants must possess the necessary experience and qualifications. The Electricity Ordinance and its subsidiary regulations also require all electrical work to be undertaken or supervised only by registered contractors, and set out the standards for electrical wiring to which registered electrical contractors and workers have had to adhere from June 1992 onwards. At the end of December 1995, more than 55 500 qualified electrical workers and 8 500 qualified contractors had been registered.
The government plans to introduce statutory controls over electrical products. As a first step, legislation to ensure the sale of safe plugs and adaptors came into effect in early 1995. Comprehensive safety legislation covering all household electrical products is under preparation. 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 200 volts single phase or 380 volts three phase. The voltage upgrading is being carried out in two phases. Phase I conversion, covering existing installation inside government buildings, started in August 1990 and was completed in November 1992. Phase II conversion, covering existing installations in buildings managed by the Housing Authority and those of the private sector, began in January 1993 and will be completed in 1997. Electricity statistics and sales figures are at Appendix 40.
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 the Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited (HKCG); and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), supplied by major oil companies based in Hong Kong: Shell, Mobil, Esso, Caltex, Concord Oil and China Resources. The constituents of LPG are butane and propane mixed in approximate proportions of 70 and 30 per cent respectively. Hong Kong has about 1.96 million gas customers. In 1995, Towngas accounted for 70 per cent of the total fuel gas sold in energy terms, and LPG for 30 per cent.
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HKCG manufactures Towngas at-two plants, both of which use naphtha as a feedstock. They currently have output capacities of 2.2 and 8.4 million cubic metres per day respectively.
Towngas is supplied for cooking and heating purposes through an integrated distribution system to about 1.11 million customers. The mains network extends throughout the territory's urban areas. New towns in the New Territories are supplied via an 80-kilometre high-pressure pipeline. Another 10 kilometres of high- pressure pipeline has been installed to supply the new development areas of Tin Shui Wai and Tuen Mun. A further 30 kilometres of high-pressure pipeline are under construction to supply Towngas to the new airport at Chek Lap Kok and to Tung Chung and other housing developments on Lantau Island.
Natural gas became available in Hong Kong at the end of 1995 exclusively for power generation at the Black Point and Castle Peak power stations. The gas is imported from the Yacheng 13-1 gas field off Hainan Island in China, via a 780- kilometre, high-pressure, submarine pipeline.