Hongkong Electric will replace older generating units at Lamma Power Station with a new gas-fired combined cycle turbine unit in 2020 to reduce emissions.
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-news.php?id=165363&story_id=45941455&con_type=1&d_str=20160120
Hongkong Electric will replace older generating units at Lamma Power Station with a new gas-fired combined cycle turbine unit in 2020 to reduce emissions.
The more efficient L10 unit will help HK Electric meet the stringent emission requirements set by the government to increase the proportion of natural gas generation to 50 percent by 2020.
It has signed an agreement with Mitsubishi Corporation to commission the construction of L10, which is expected to cost HK$3 billion.
Managing director Wan Chi-tin, who signed the agreement with Mitsubishi in Tokyo, said the L10 will enable a cleaner power supply while maintaining reliability.
“When L10 is commissioned in 2020, it will enable HK Electric to further reduce our carbon footprint and other emissions while maintaining power supply reliability,” he said yesterday.
L10 is cleaner and more efficient after adopting combined cycle generation technology.
The company says the technology “is one of the cleanest, most popular and efficient ways to generate electricity by fossil fuels in the world.”
It also has greater fuel efficiency through generating additional power from its steam turbine, which uses the high- temperature exhaust gas from the gas turbine.
Gas generation produces fewer emissions than other fossil fuels, reducing its environmental impact.
Meanwhile, Secretary for Environment Wong Kam-sing said the government is working to reduce the maximum return ratio of the territory’s two electric companies.
Under the Scheme of Control Agreement with the government, each of the power companies is allowed to make a capped rate of return of 9.99 percent after tax on its average net fixed assets. It will expire in 2018.
On a radio program yesterday, Wong said the government wants to increase the use of renewable energy.
He said a public consultation last year found citizens they want to reduce the return rate to between six and eight percent.
“We should not aim at the lowest ratio possible, but a balanced one,” Wong said.