Fok slams power import proposal
The chief of Power Assets has made his strongest stand yet against the government's proposal to import an additional 30 per cent of Hong Kong's power from the mainland by 2023.
The chief of Power Assets has made his strongest stand yet against the government's proposal to import an additional 30 per cent of Hong Kong's power from the mainland by 2023.
Canning Fok Kin-ning, chairman of Power Assets - which is controlled by Li Ka-shing - yesterday tore into the proposal, rubbishing all its supposed advantages pertaining to price, reliability and environmental-friendliness.
He said Hong Kong cannot afford to accept China Southern Grid's record of 3.2 hours a year - or 16 minutes a month - of blackouts in its operating areas, the likely high import price and a shifting of carbon emission from Hong Kong to other parts of the Pearl River Delta.
Small delays like eight minutes [at subways] have already caused so much chaos
"Even small delays like eight minutes [at the subways] have already caused so much chaos. Can you imagine the kind of chaos wreaked by 16?" he told reporters after Power Assets' annual shareholders meeting. "Hong Kong's buildings are mostly high-rises with elevators. We also host many banking systems, computers and there's a stock exchange to consider."
Power assets is the largest shareholder of Hongkong Electric, the sole power supplier to Hong Kong Island and Lamma Island.
According to Hongkong Electric managing director Wan Chi-tin, Hong Kong Island saw less than one minute of blackouts a year, and less than two minutes in Kowloon and the New Territories, compared with 1 hour 6 minutes in Shenzhen and 1 hour 48 minutes in Guangzhou.
Southern Grid is the sole power distributor in five southern provinces.
