Electricity sector in Hong Kong ranges from

generation A generation is all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It also is "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–⁠30 years, during which children are born and grow up, become adults, and b ...

transmission Transmission or transmit may refer to: Science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Transmission (mechanical device), technology that allows controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual tra ...

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...

and sales of electricity covering

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 ...

. The combustion 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 ...

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

and

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

are the main sources of electricity in Hong Kong. The electricity sector contributes 60.4% of Hong Kong's total

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...

. There are two main providers of electricity in Hong Kong.

Companies

Power generation in Hong Kong is managed by two major companies under a Scheme of Control arrangement with the Hong Kong Government. These companies effectively operate in a regulated market.

Hongkong Electric Company

The Hongkong Electric Company (HEC; ) HEC's supply area includes

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island () is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island, known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong", had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of , . It is the second largest island in Hong Kon ...

and

Lamma Island Lamma Island, also known as Y Island, Pok Liu Chau or simply Pok Liu, is the third largest List of islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong, island in Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Islands District, Hong Kong, Islands District. Lam ...

. HEC owns and operates: * Lamma Power Station * Lamma Winds Power Station

CLP Power Hong Kong Limited

The CLP Power Hong Kong Limited (CLP; ) under the CLP Group was founded on 25 January 1901 as China Light & Power Company Syndicate in

British Hong Kong Hong Kong was under British Empire, British rule from 1841 to 1997, except for a Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, brief period of Japanese occupation during World War II from 1941 to 1945. It was a crown colony of the United Kingdom from 1841 ...

. CLP's supply area includes Kowloon, New Territories and outlying islands except Lamma Island. CLP owns the following power stations in Hong Kong territory under a joint-venture company Castle Peak Power Company Limited (CAPCO) with China Southern Power Grid International (HK) Co., Limited. * Black Point Power Station * Castle Peak Power Station * Penny's Bay Power Station CLP also owns 25% shares of the Guangdong Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station and wholly owns Guangzhou Pumped Storage Power Station in Conghua.

Generation

Fuel

In 2012, Hong Kong relied on

(53%),

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics * Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

(23%),

(22%) and a very small amount (2%) of

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

for its electricity generation. As coal-firing generation units start to retire in 2017, the Government plans to raise the share of natural gas to 50% in 2020 while maintaining the share of nuclear power at present levels. The Government announced that in the year 2020, around half of electricity generation had been met by natural gas, and generation from coal had been successfully reduced to about a quarter, with the remaining generation from imported nuclear energy from the mainland and

renewables Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind power, and hydropower. Bioenergy and ...

(utility and off-grid).

Power stations in Hong Kong

Hong Kong has currently 5

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

s, supplying 77% of its electricity needs in 2012. ;Black Point Power Station Commissioned in 1996, the Black Point Power Station is a gas-fired power station located in Lung Kwu Tan,

Tuen Mun Tuen Mun () or Castle Peak is an area near the mouth of Tuen Mun River and Castle Peak Bay in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It was one of the earliest settlements in what is now Hong Kong and can be dated to the Neolithic period. In the mo ...

in the

New Territories The New Territories (N.T., Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: ) is one of the three areas of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of H ...

. It is the largest gas-fired power station in Hong Kong with an installed generation capacity of 2,500MW. ;Castle Peak Power Station Commissioned in 1982, the Castle Peak Power Station is a coal-fired power station located Tap Shek Kok,

in the

. It is the largest power station in Hong Kong with an installed generation capacity of 4,108MW. ;Lamma Power Station Commissioned in 1982, the Lamma Power Station is a coal-fired power station located on Po Lo Tsui,

, part of the

Islands District The Islands District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. It is part of the New Territories. It had a population of 185,282 in 2021. Hong Kong consists of a peninsula and 263 islands. The Islands District consists of some twenty large and ...

. It is the second largest power station in Hong Kong at an installed generation capacity of 3,237 MW. ;Lamma Winds Power Station Commissioned in 2006, the Lamma Winds Power Station is a

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that wind power, converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. , hundreds of thousands of list of most powerful wind turbines, large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, were generating over ...

located on

. It is the only industrial-sized

in Hong Kong with an installed generation capacity of 800 kW. ;Penny's Bay Power Station Commissioned in 1992, the Penny's Bay Power Station is a diesel-fired gas turbine power station located at Penny's Bay on

Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao or Lan Tau) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located west of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the ...

. It is a peaking power station with an installed generation capacity of 300MW.

Interconnection with China

CLP's electrical grid is interconnected with the

China Southern Power Grid China Southern Power Grid Company Limited (CSG; ) is one of the two Chinese state-owned enterprises established in 2002 in a power system reform promulgated by the State Council of the People's Republic of China, State Council, the other being ...

of Mainland China. Hong Kong imports 23% of its total electricity needs from generating facilities with CLP's equity situated in the mainland. These include a contractual agreement of 70% electricity output from the 2 x 944 MW

Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant Daya Nuclear Power Plant () is a nuclear power plant located in Daya Bay in Longgang District, along the eastern extremity of Shenzhen, Guangdong, China; and to the north east of Hong Kong. Daya Bay has two 944 MWe PWR nuclear reactors base ...

and some peaking power/pumping load from Guangzhou Pumped Storage Power Station in Conghua. Recently, CLP said that it would buy 10% more nuclear power from Daya Bay Plant, increasing the share to 80% of the plant's output capacity. But with the increasing electricity demand in southern China, it will be difficult for CLP to acquire 100% of the plant's output capacity.

Transmission

HEC transmits electricity on Hong Kong Island at 275 kV and 132 kV voltage level to various load centres, in which the network consists mainly of underground and submarine cable. The network is owned and operated by HEC. There are only few remaining 132 kV

overhead power line An overhead power line is a structure used in electric power transmission and distribution to transmit electrical energy along large distances. It consists of one or more conductors (commonly multiples of three) suspended by towers or poles. ...

s in the system. The use of underground cable was chosen because it is ideal for a densely populated area like Hong Kong, and to ensure supply reliability even in bad weather, such as during typhoon. There are also six dedicated cable tunnels to accommodate some of the 275 kV fluid-filled cable circuits in

and

. In most of the load centres, the voltage is being stepped down to 22 kV or 11 kV for distribution purpose. CLP transmits electricity in

Kowloon Kowloon () is one of the areas of Hong Kong, three areas of Hong Kong, along with Hong Kong Island and the New Territories. It is an urban area comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It has a population of 2,019,533 and a populat ...

and

at 400 kV and 132 kV voltage level. These transmission networks consist mainly of

overhead line An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, Electric multiple unit, electric multiple units, trolleybuses or trams. The generic term used by the International Union ...

s. The network is owned and operated by CLP Power. In most of the load centres, the voltage is stepped down to 11 kV for distribution. Transmission networks of CLP Power and HEC are interconnected by three 132 kV submarine circuits from

Hung Hom Hung Hom (, ) is an area in the southeast of Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong. Including the areas of Whampoa, Tai Wan, Hok Yuen, Lo Lung Hang and No. 12 Hill are administratively part of the Kowloon City District, with a portion west of ...

North Point North Point is a mixed-use urban area in the Eastern District, Hong Kong, Eastern District of Hong Kong. Located in the northeastern part of Hong Kong Island, the area is named after a cape between Causeway Bay and Tsat Tsz Mui that projects ...

for emergency support but no economy power interchange is normally scheduled. CLP's 400 kV transmission network is also interconnected with the 500 kV

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

Province.

Distribution

HK Sheung Wan 151 Caine Road 2nd Floor metering April-2011

Electricity is distributed at 22 kV and 11 kV voltage level to over 3,800 distribution substations on HEC side. CLP distributes power mainly at 11 kV level. Voltage is further stepped down to 380 V

three-phase Three-phase electric power (abbreviated 3ϕ) is a common type of alternating current (AC) used in electricity generation, Electric power transmission, transmission, and Electric power distribution, distribution. It is a type of polyphase system ...

or 220 V

single-phase In electrical engineering, single-phase electric power (abbreviated 1φ) is the distribution of alternating current electric power using a system in which all the voltages of the supply vary in unison. Single-phase distribution is used when loads ...

and supplied through

low voltage In electrical engineering, low voltage is a relative term, the definition varying by context. Different definitions are used in electric power transmission and distribution, compared with electronics design. Electrical safety codes define "low vo ...

cables to customers.

Control centres

The system control centre located at

Ap Lei Chau Ap Lei Chau or Aberdeen Island is an island of Hong Kong, located off Hong Kong Island next to Aberdeen Harbour and Aberdeen Channel. It has an area of after land reclamation. Administratively it is part of the Southern District. Ap Lei ...

monitors and controls all of the switching in HEC's distribution substations remotely. CLP has its system control centre in

Tai Po district Tai Po District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. The suburban district covers the areas of Tai Po New Town (including areas such as Tai Po Market, , Tai Po Industrial Estate, Tai Wo Estate), Tai Po Tau, Tai Po Kau, Hong Lok Yue ...

Consumption

In 2021, of electricity was consumed, accounting for 51.8% of total energy consumption in Hong Kong. Electricity usage based on industry in Hong Kong are 66% (commercial), 26% (residential), 6% (industrial) and 2% (transportation). Peak demand of electricity use was 9.942 GW.