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Wind farm will cost a lot and generate very little electricity

SCMP

Director of Environmental Protection Anissa Wong Sean-yee has approved CLP Power (SEHK: 0002)’s proposed offshore wind farm near Sai Kung (“CLP’s Sai Kung wind farm gains approval”, August 4).

She requires the project proponent to, within six months, set up a stakeholder liaison group comprising those relating to the fisheries sector and environmental and hiking groups and advise on the design, construction and operation of the project.

She also requires the proponent to submit a fisheries enhancement plan, including deployment of artificial reefs and ensure the wind farm will cover the smallest area and is as far away from the Ninepin islands as possible. But these requirements are what the Advisory Council on the Environment recommended in its report on the 108th environmental impact assessment sub-committee meeting last month. Clearly, the director has no more input on the approval other than issuing an environmental permit.

In my letter (“A sensible government would say no to expensive wind farm”, June 9), I questioned the practicality of procuring 1 per cent of the city’s total electricity consumption through the wind farm as the amount of electricity generated by it could easily be saved by simply switching off electrical appliances when not in use.

Such a consideration alone will surely render the proposed 200-megawatt wind farm superfluous to the city’s power requirement.

In the 2003 Study on the Potential Applications of Renewable Energy in Hong Kong, the consultant recommended that the target for locally produced renewable energy’s contribution to annual electricity production should tentatively be set at 1 per cent in 2012. This target is so low it is meaningless, but it curiously fits in with the proponent’s present wind farm output.

It was said that the scheme of control agreement with the government provides a framework for monitoring the performance of power companies so as to protect the interests of consumers. By saying yes to the superfluous and expensive wind farm, the government should clarify how consumer interest has been protected.

Alex Tam, Sai Kung

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