Cheung Chi-fai, SCMP – Jun 25, 2009
Construction will begin in 2011 on two 20km underwater gas pipelines running from Shekou to Hong Kong to transport natural gas from Central Asia, CLP Power says.
The pipes are necessary to supplement the supply from the company’s gas reserve in Hainan , which comes through an 800km undersea pipe and is expected to start running out in 2012.
The new supply will also enable the firm to boost its use of cleaner gas to generate electricity and reduce air pollution, CLP says.
In a project profile submitted to the Environmental Protection Department, the company said the two pipes were needed to carry the gas from Dachan Island in Shekou to the Black Point Power Station.
Supply from the pipes will be at least 1 billion cubic metres a year, or about a third of the 3.4 billion cubic metres the power station will need by early in the next decade.
Last year, Hong Kong signed a memorandum of understanding with Beijing’s National Energy Administration to extend the second west-east natural gas pipelines from Central Asia to Hong Kong via Shenzhen. The pipe project is led by Petrol China Natural Gas Corporation, which will also invest in a gas storage facility and a liquefied natural gas terminal in Dachan. CLP Power also has about a 25 per cent stake in the terminal and storage project.
A CLP Power spokeswoman said the cost of the project was uncertain.
She said the dual pipe design would ensure a reliable supply.
It is understood the gas supply from eastern Shenzhen to Towngas and Hongkong Electric also comes through dual pipes.
According to the project profile, CLP Power will have to reclaim 2 hectares of land from the sea next to its power station to build a gas receiving station. It is estimated that 950,000 cubic metres of mud will be dredged from the sea bed.
An ecological impact study will be made for the 5km section of pipes within Hong Kong waters. The remaining section would be studied by the project’s mainland partners.
The profile said the pipes would be far from sensitive sites, though there had been sightings of Chinese white dolphin in the area.