ENG-1982 — Page 229

PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES

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voltage substations. Construction and energisation at 400 kV of the Castle Peak to Tsz Wan Shan line was completed in February; construction of the Sha Tin to Tai Po section has also been completed. The two 400 kV cable circuits from Tsz Wan Shan to Tai Wan were commissioned in March. Each has a rating of 700 MVA and they are thermally independent of each other.

The company's transmission system is interconnected with that of the Hongkong Electric Company Limited. The interconnection results in cost savings to consumers. due to economic energy transfers between the two systems and a reduction in spinning reserve requirements.

It is also interconnected with that of Guangdong Power Company of China and about one million units of electricity are exported to Guangdong Province each day. The interconnection results in better utilisation of the company's generation plant during off-peak demand periods and provides the facility to feed power from Guangdong to the company's system when necessary.

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The Hongkong Electric Company's Ap Lei Chau Power Station, which started commercial operation in 1968, has an installed capacity of 1 060 MW, consisting of two 60 MW and seven 125 MW oil fired generating units together with two gas turbines rated at a total capacity of 65 MW.

In 1978 the company was granted a site on Lamma Island for a new dual fired (coal or oil) power station. The first 250 MW unit was brought on to commercial load in July 1982, followed by the second 250 MW unit in December 1982; the installation of a further 250 MW unit will see the completion of Phase I of the Lamma Power Station. Phase II of the Lamma Power Station will consist of two 350 MW coal fired units, ensuring that the company will continue to meet rising electricity demand - a demand that has grown over the last decade from 342 MW in 1972 to 960 MW in 1982, an increase of 181 per cent.

The company's transmission system operates at 275 kV, 132 kV and 66 kV, whereas distribution is effected mainly at 11 kV and 346 volts. With the exception of a small proportion of 132 kV overhead transmission lines, the entire transmission and distribution system is underground. The electricity supply is 50 Hz, 200 volts (single phase) and 346 volts (three phase). For larger consumers, supplies at high voltage are also available. Hongkong Electric Company's transmission system is interconnected with that of China Light and Power Company by means of cross-harbour links. The first phase of the develop- ment, which was commissioned in April 1981, has a capacity of 160 MVA. Currently, the cross-harbour link has a capacity of 480 MVA. The interconnection, when completed, will have a total capacity of 720 MVA.

The installed capacity of the Cheung Chau Electric Company is 8 MW. Electricity statistics are at Appendix 34.

The two major electricity companies are the primary users of fuel oil, accounting for over 50 per cent of Hong Kong's total import of petroleum products in 1982. To reduce the repercussion of supply restrictions, the government took measures at the end of 1980 to store a temporary reserve of fuel oil, for electricity generation, in two large tankers moored in local waters. This form of storage was used until the end of 1981, when land tanks at the new power stations on Lamma Island and at Castle Peak became available for long-term storage.

Gas

The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited is an investor-owned company which does not operate under any form of government franchise or scheme of control. During 1982,