The Castle Peak Power Station () is the largest

coal-fired power station A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide there are about 2,500 coal-fired power stations, on average capable of generating a gigawatt each. They generate ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. It is situated in ,

Tuen Mun District The Tuen Mun District () is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong, administrative districts of Hong Kong. As of 2021, the population was 506,879, of which 64,000 were under the age of 18. Part of the district is the Tuen Mun New Town (or sim ...

, on the north shore of Urmston Road. It was named after the nearby Castle Peak. The station consists of four 350 MW and four 677 MW generating units, with auxiliary facilities. It was commissioned in 1982 with its newest generation unit installed in 1990, currently one of the three power stations that CLP operates in Hong Kong. In 2007, Castle Peak burned 9 million tonnes of

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

of which, according to CLP, 4.6 million tonnes was low-sulphur coal from

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. The power station has been undertaking a range of programmes to improve emission performance, including refurbishing burners to reduce emission of nitrogen oxide, SCR (Selective Catalyst Reduction) and BOFA (Boosted Over Fire Air) has been installed, and flue-gas desulphurisation for sulphur removal. This power station is a major contributor to non-motor-traffic pollution in Hong Kong.

History

The Castle Peak A Power Station was officially opened by Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

on 28 September 1982. The site was designed with provision for construction of a second "B" power station at a later date. It was decided to go ahead with the Castle Peak B Power Station in 1981. This was built by the Castle Peak Power Company, a joint venture between CLP and Esso. The first two (of four) units were inaugurated by

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

on 22 October 1986.

Ownership

The station is owned by Castle Peak Power Company (Capco) which also owns the

Black Point Power Station Black Point Power Station () is a gas-fired power station in Lung Kwu Tan, New Territories, Hong Kong. The power station is operated by CLP Group. History In the late 1980s, China Light and Power (CLP) examined several potential sites for the ...

and the

Penny's Bay Power Station Penny's Bay Power Station () is a gas turbine power station in Penny's Bay, Hong Kong. The HKD 1.1 billion power station was commissioned on 25 March 1992. The complex consists of three open cycle gas turbines in a rectangular turbine hall with ...

. Initially CLP held a 40% stake (60% held by

ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...

) in Capco. The total power generation capacity of the three power station amounts to 6,908 MW. On 19 November 2013, CLP Group and China Southern Power Grid Company (CSG) announced its acquisition of Exxon's 60% stake in Capco for HK$24 billion. After the transaction, CLP holds a 70% stake while CSG holds the remaining 30% stake. The transaction was said to help CLP lower its emission to meet its target in 2020 by importing more renewable energy through CSG's grid. The transaction was completed on May 12, 2014.

Future plans

In 2020, CLP installed an additional 550 MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) from

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

for the nearby gas-powered

. A second turbine is expected to be completed by 2023. During which, Castle Peak A Power Station Station will be gradually decommissioned, while the B Power Station is expected to cease day-to-day operations by 2035. As of 2022, Unit A1 (350 MW) was reserved only for emergency use due to reaching the end of its asset life.

References

External links

Castle Peak Power Station
on CLP website {{Authority control Coal-fired power stations in Hong Kong Tuen Mun District

History

Ownership

Future plans

See also

References

External links