15 Sep (NucNet): Hong Kong will explore the possibility of importing more nuclear electricity from mainland China as part of plans to “revamp” its energy mix and reduce CO2 emissions.
In an energy policy document released for public consultation the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government said its objective is to reduce the proportion of coal in the overall fuel mix.
Coal-fired is expected to account for less than 10% of the fuel mix by 2020, the document says.
In 2009, coal dominated the territory’s fuel mix for electricity generation (about 54 percent), followed by natural gas (about 23 percent) and nuclear electricity imported from the mainland (about 23 percent).
Nuclear electricity has been part of Hong Kong’s overall fuel mix since the early 1990s. Since they began commercial operation in 1994, the two units at the Guangdong nuclear plant (also known as Daya Bay) have been providing “stable, reliable and relatively low-cost” electricity supply to Hong Kong, the document says.
CLP Power Hong Kong has a 25 percent stake in the two 944-megawatt reactors at Guangdong. The Guangdong plant produces about 14 billion kWh of electricity per year, of which 70 percent is imported by CLP to its Hong Kong system.
In September 2009, the supply contact between the Guangdong plant and CLP was extended to 2034.
The energy policy document, ‘Hong Kong’s Climate Change Strategy And Action Agenda,’ is online:
www.epd.gov.hk/epd/textonly/english/climate_change/files/Climate_Change_Booklet_E.pdf
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
China Confirms Plans For USD 175 Billion Nuclear Park (News in Brief No. 153, 31 August 2010)
