LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
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Guangdong Nuclear Power Joint Venture Company, to build and operate a nuclear power station at Daya Bay in Guangdong. This comprises two 984MW pressurised water reactors which went into commercial operation in February and May 1994, respectively. CLP Power undertook to buy about 70 per cent of the station's power to meet part of the longer-term demand for electricity in its supply area.
Through its affiliated company, the Hong Kong Pumped Storage Development Company Limited, CLP Power has the right to use 50 per cent of the 1 200MW capacity of Phase 1 of the Guangzhou Pumped Storage Power Station, at Conghua. Off-peak electricity from the CAPCO system 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 Government signed Demand Side Management (DSM) Agreements with the respective power companies in May 2000 and approved the companies' DSM Resource Plans the next month. The power companies implemented their three-year DSM programmes, including rebate schemes for lighting and air-conditioning systems for non-residential customers, as well as other education and informational schemes, starting from July 2000. CLP Power and HEC ceased accepting new applications for joining the lighting rebate schemes in July and August 2001, respectively, due to exhaustion of the allocated budgets. The need for extending the rebate scheme to residential customers is being reviewed by the Government.
The Electricity Ordinance, with its subsidiary regulations, is the main enabling legislation on electrical safety. It sets out the legal framework encompassing all the areas within which the concerned legislation shall apply, including the registration of electrical workers/contractors and competent persons, the safety standards and requirements for electricity supply, electricity supply lines, electrical wiring and products.
Since 1990, the regulations concerning registration of electrical workers and contractors, the safety of electrical wiring, and the supply of safe household electrical products have come into effect in stages. At December, some 8 000 electrical contractors and 51 500 electrical workers held valid registration.
A new regulation, namely the Electricity Supply Lines (Protection) Regulation (ESLPR), commenced full operation from April 1 to protect electricity supply lines from damage during works activities, in the interests of safety and of ensuring the continuity of electricity supply. A Code of Practice on Working Near Electricity Supply Lines was published in June 2000 to provide general guidance on how to satisfy the requirements of the ESLPR. Some 570 competent persons have been approved under the ESLPR for locating underground electricity cables since June 2000.
In 2001, in enforcing the Electricity Ordinance, the Government conducted 13 442 site inspections to check the safety standards of electrical installations and electrical product supply outlets, and 390 prosecutions were instituted against violations.
Gas
Towngas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) are two main types of fuel gas widely used throughout Hong Kong for domestic, commercial and industrial purposes. In addition, natural gas is also used for electricity generation.