CLP’s plan to buy solar energy from village houses hits a snag
- Of the 2,500 applications to sell renewable power to CLP, as many as 13 per cent may face delays or are indefinitely on hold
A scheme for Hong Kong residents to generate electricity from rooftop solar panels and contribute to the government’s carbon reduction goals has suffered a setback due to a lack of grid infrastructure, according to the chief executive of the city’s largest power supplier.
As many as 13 per cent of applications to install rooftop panels are facing delays or substantial scale curtailment, said Richard Lancaster of CLP Holdings.
“In some more remote parts of the New Territories, there isn’t the necessary power supply infrastructure in place so all of that has to be planned,” he said. “In some cases, there may be constraints that we just physically can’t build enough infrastructure in time in order to make the application worthwhile.”
Under the scheme, owners of rooftop homes equipped with solar panels can sell power to CLP at HK$3 to HK$5 (38 US cents to 64 US cents) per kilowatt-hour, depending on volume.
This is much higher than the 84 HK cents to HK$1.79 rate at which residential customers are charged on power produced and delivered by CLP.
The price differential was designed to encourage take-up of the scheme as part of the government’s policy to meet its carbon emission reduction goals by raising renewable energy usage.
Using 2005 as a baseline, Hong Kong is aiming to cut carbon emissions by 26 to 36 per cent by 2030, mainly by converting coal-fired power plants to natural gas, with renewable energy contributing only modestly due to limited land area.
