MONDAY, MARCH 12, 1984
2
HE SAID HONG KONG'S TOTAL GENERATING CAPACITY IN 1945 WAS 100 MEGAWATTS, AND THIS INCREASED TO 400 MEGAWATTS 20 YEARS LATER.
→BUT IT WAS NOT UNTIL THE LATE 1960'S AND EARLY 1970'S WHEN, FUELED BY A POPULATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH, HONG KONG'S ELECTRICAL GENERATING CAPACITY BEGAN ITS PHENOMENAL EXPANSION.
+ALTHOUGH THIS WAS LED BY INDUSTRY, IT IS IMPORTANT TO PECALL THAT DOMESTIC DEMAND FOR ELECTRICITY GREW IN AN EQUALLY DRAMATIC FASHION, REFLECTING INCREASING LIVING STANDARDS, HE SAID.
BY 1968, CAPACITY HAD INCREASED TO ABOUT BOD MEGAWATTS AND, WAS NOW JUST OVER 5 000 MEGAWATTS.
+THE GROWTH OF ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY AND THE TENDENCY TO MAXIMISE LAND USE IN HONG KONG WERE THE MAJOR CAUSES OF THIS GROWTH IN DEMAND, MR OSBORNE SAID.
THE INSTALLATION OF LIGHTING FOR DECORATION AND ILLUMINATION, THE INSTALLATION OF ESCALATORS AND LIFTS IN HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS, THE PROVISION OF ADEQUATE FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEMS (INCLUDING STANDBY GENERATORS), THE GROWTH OF INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AND SECURITY SYSTEMS AND, MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL, THE WIDE-SPREAD INTRODUCTION OF AIR-CONDITIONING HAD ALL CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REMARKABLE GROWTH.
WHAT WAS FREQUENTLY OVERLOOKED, HOWEVER, WAS THE INCREASING DEMAND FROM RECREATIONAL FACILITIES..
THE ISOLATED FOOTBALL PITCHES OF THE PAST, WHICH COULD BE USED ONLY DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS, HAD GIVEN WAY TO LARGE, MULTI-PURPOSE INDOOR AND OUTDOOR FACILITIES, WHICH CATERED FOR THE RECREATIONAL NEEDS OF OUR THRIVING, METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY.
THE GOVERNMENT NOW PROVIDED FOOTBALL PITCHES, BASKET-BALL, TENNIS AND SQUASH COURTS AND SWIMMING FACILITIES TO THE HIGHEST INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS.
THESE INVOLVED FLOODLIGHTING, COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, ELECTRONIC SCOREBOARDS AND TELE-VISUAL FACILTIES, AND, TAKEN TOGETHER, PLACED AN INCREASING DEMAND ON OUR POWER SUPPLY AS WELL AS ON OUR CAPACITY FOR TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.
FINALLY, COMPUTERISATION IN BOTH THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS, AUTOMATION IN MANUFACTURING AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF TWO MODERN, HIGH-SPEED, ELECTRIC RAIL SYSTEMS, WERE AMONG THE MOST RÉCENT DEVELOPMENTS TO HAVE PLACED FURTHER DEMANDS ON THE SUPPLY OF ELECTRICITY.
OVERALL, THE ANNUAL CONSUMPTION OF UNITS OF ELECTRICITY PER PERSON IN HONG KONG HAD INCREASED BY OVER 50 PER CENT IN THE LAST 10 YEARS.
THIS CONSUMPTION WAS ROUGHLY EQUIVALENT TO THAT OF SINGAPORE, BUT WAS ONLY 60 PER CENT OF THE PER-CAPITA CONSUMPTION IN JAPAN, SO IT COULD NOT BE SAID THAT WE WERE EXTRAVAGANT IN OUR USE OF ELECTRICITY.
/+NOR CAN