Hongkong Electric Company

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Hongkong Electric Company
香港電燈有限公司
HK Electric Investments and HK Electric Investments
SEHK2638
ISINHK0000179108
IndustryPublic utility
Founded1 December 1890; 133 years ago (1890-12-01) in British Hong Kong
HeadquartersHongkong Electric Centre, 44 Kennedy Road,
Key people
  • WAN Chi Tin (CEO)
  • FOK Kin Ning, Canning (Chairman)
  • LI Tzar Kuoi, Victor (Deputy Chairman)[1]
ProductsElectric service
RevenueHK$ 11,344 million (2021)[2]
Total assets
  • IncreaseHK$114,828 million (2021)
  • HK$111,567 million (2020)[2]
Number of employees
1,682 (2022)[3]
Websitewww.hkelectric.com
Hongkong Electric Company
Hanyu Pinyin
Gǎng Dēng
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpinggong2 dang1

The Hongkong Electric Company (HEC;

Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings and Qatar Investment Authority.[4]
It was the first company to provide electricity in Hong Kong, having run continually since the 19th century.

History

Following a meeting in 188_[

Dairy farm, Taikoo Docks, the Peak Tram and the University of Hong Kong which had formerly generated their own supplies, switched to the company's supply. In 1924 there were 1,369 street lamps lit by gas with only 469 powered by electricity. However, by 1936, few gas lamps remained.[7]

North Point Power Station during the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941.

During the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941, a number of staff at the North Point power plant held the Japanese at bay in an epic defence. Casualties from the battle included the plant's manager Vincent Sorby, who died in a prison camp of wounds received during the attack.

A second power plant was built in North Point in 1919 and a third at Ap Lei Chau in 1968 which was decommissioned in 1989. Since 1990, all HEC's electric generators have been situated at the Lamma Power Station.[8]

Hongkong Land (HKL), which owned a 34% stake in the company, underwent a restructuring in January 1985 whereby it was forced to sell its stake in the company for HK$3 billion to reduce debt levels.[9]

The company is now controlled by Li Ka-shing's Cheung Kong Holdings as part of listed company Power Assets Holdings Limited, which before February 2011 was known as "Hongkong Electric Holdings Limited".[10]

Power generation

Sources of electricity generated by Hongkong Electric in 2021[11]

  
oil (51.619%)
(0.056%)

Lamma Power Station

Lamma Power Station

Lamma Power Station is a 3,736 megawatts (5,010,000 hp) either (

combined cycle when used alongside natural gas). Built in 1982 as a 250-megawatt (340,000 hp) coal-fired station, it was upgraded to 600 megawatts (800,000 hp) in 1987 and to 1,350 megawatts (1,810,000 hp) by 1989.[12]

Lamma Winds

Lamma Winds operates a Nordex standard N50 800-kilowatt (1,100 hp) wind turbine with a rotor diameter of 50 metres (160 ft). Completed in 2006, the turbine is of stall-regulated, "horizontal axis" design and is mounted up-wind.[13]

Solar power system

In July 2010, the company commissioned the largest commercial-scale solar power system in Hong Kong. Based on

installed capacity of 550 kilowatts (740 hp), on completion in 2011 the plant's annual output is forecast at 620,000 kilowatt-hours (2,200,000 MJ).[14]

Electricity tariff

Tariff for residential clients

Tariff for non-residential clients

Closed plants

City Garden was built on the site of North Point Power Station.
Ap Lei Chau Power Station in 1971.

Most of the older power stations were closed as residential development began to surround them. As HEC was owned by a land developer, these properties were in turn re-developed into housing estates.[citation needed]

Wan Chai

Wing Fung Street.[citation needed
]

North Point

The North Point Power Stations were a series of power stations built between 1919 and 1966. The site is now home to the City Garden residential flats and Maxim Mall.

  • North Point Power Station (A) - 3,000 kilowatts (4,000 hp) coal-fired generating station opened in 1919 to replace Wan Chai station and decommissioned in 1989[12]
  • North Point Power Station (B) - 30 megawatts (40,000 hp) coal-fired generating station opened in 1958 and decommissioned in 1989[12]
  • North Point Power Station (C) - 60 megawatts (80,000 hp) oil-fired generating station opened in 1966 and decommissioned 1989[12]

Ap Lei Chau Power Station

Opened in 1968, the Ap Lei Chau Power Station was a 750 megawatts (1,010,000 hp) oil-fired generating station. The plant was decommissioned and its generators moved to Lamma Power Station between 1984 and 1989;[12] HEC office tower and building is now surrounded by the South Horizons housing estate, 34 towers built by Hutchison Whampoa.[15]

power substation in Cheung Lee Street, Chai Wan
Hongkong Electric power substation in Healthy Street East, Quarry Bay

References

  1. ^ "Board of Directors". Hongkong Electric. 16 August 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b Annual Report 2021: Crafting a Greener Future (PDF) (Report). Hongkong Electric Company. 15 March 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  3. ^ Interim Report 2022 (PDF) (Report). Hongkong Electric Company. August 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  4. ^ "Power Assets sells $991 mln HK Electric stake to Qatar". Reuters. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  5. ^ "The legacy of Sir Catchick Paul Chater". Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  6. . p. 11.
  7. ^ . p. 249
  8. ^ Hec.com Archived 11 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Electricity Generation. Retrieved on 26 April 2007.
  9. Hong Kong Standard
    , 17 October 1985
  10. ^ "Power Assets Holdings Ltd.: Our Company".
  11. ^ "Fuel-Mix Generation Data". Hongkong Electric. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  12. ^ a b c d e Hongkong Electric Holdings Ltd. History on fundinguniverse.com
  13. ^ "Lamma Wind Turbine: Design, Construction and Commissioning". Hong Kong Electric Company. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  14. ^ a b "Solar Power System". Hong Kong Electric Company. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  15. ^ Industcards: Gas- and Oil-fired Plants in China, South Korea & Taiwan Archived 3 January 2013 at archive.today

Further reading

  • Coates, Austen (1977). A Mountain of Light: the Story of the Hongkong Electric Company. Heinemann. .

External links