ENG-1989 — Page 255

LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES

Electricity

Electricity supply is currently provided by two commercial companies, the Hongkong. Electric Company Limited (HEC), which supplies Hong Kong Island and the neighbouring islands of Ap Lei Chau and Lamma, and China Light and Power Company Limited (CLP), which supplies the whole of Kowloon and the New Territories, including Lantau and a number of outlying islands.

The two supply companies are listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and do not operate on a franchise basis. The government monitors the financial arrangements of the companies through schemes of control. The schemes require each company to submit to the government for approval a Financial Plan setting out the financial consequences over a period of at least five years of the companies' planned activities, including the forecast tariff levels.

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The government's arrangements for monitoring the operations of the power companies were reviewed by a firm of independent consultants in 1983. The consultancy report, published in March 1985, confirmed that the monitoring arrangements in the past had been adequate and appropriate. Nevertheless, the consultants also offered a number of recommendations on how the operational aspects of the monitoring process could be im- proved. A special working party responsible to the Secretary for Economic Services was set up to develop the recommendations. The working party's report was submitted to the Executive Council and the consultants' recommendations have since been implemented.

In Kowloon and the New Territories, electricity is supplied by CLP's three affiliated generating companies - Peninsula Electric Power Company Limited (PEPCO), Kowloon Electricity Supply Company Limited (KESCO) and Castle Peak Power Company Limited (CAPCO). CLP has a 40 per cent stake in each of these affiliated companies, with the remaining 60 per cent being owned by Exxon.

PEPCO, KESCO and CAPCO have operating service agreements with CLP under which CLP constructs, commissions, operates and maintains the electricity generating facilities for these companies. The generating facilities include Tsing Yi ‘A' (720 MW) and Tsing Yi 'B' (800 MW) which are owned by PEPCO; Hok Un (264 MW) and Castle Peak 'A' (1 640 MW) which are owned by KESCO; and the Castle Peak 'B' (2 031 MW) which is owned by CAPCO. The total installed capacity at the end of 1989 was 5 455 MW.

The Castle Peak 'B' station is not yet fully completed. Work is in progress to add another 677 MW dual coal/oil-fired units to it to bring the total generating capacity to 2 708 MW. When the 'B' station becomes fully operational in early 1990 it will, together with the adjacent 'A' station, make the Castle Peak Power Station complex the largest of its kind in South-east Asia.

CLP's transmission system operates at 400 kV, 132 kV and 66 kV, and distribution is effected mainly at 33 kV, 11 kV and 346 volts. The supply is 50 hertz alternating current, normally at 200 volts single phase or 346 volts three phase.

To serve its consumers, CLP has more than 155 primary and over 5 616 secondary substations in its transmission and distribution network. An extra high voltage transmis- sion system at 400 kV to transmit power from the Castle Peak stations to the various load centres was recently completed. This 400 kV network comprises two transmission rings. One ring, a primary ring encircling the New Territories, consists of 90 kilometres of double circuit overhead lines and four extra high voltage substations at Lei Muk Shue, Tze Wan Shan, Tai Po and Yuen Long. The other ring consists of 22 kilo- metres of cable circuits linking the major substations at Tze Wan Shan, Tai Wan and Lai Chi Kok.

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