CLP Power pushes back construction of Sai Kung wind farm for study

A proposed offshore wind farm off Sai Kung might not see its blades rotating for at least another two years after the city's largest power producer decided to extend a feasibility study into its economic viability and technical design.

The wind farm, proposed by CLP Power for construction near the Ninepin islands, was once said to be the city's most ambitious renewable energy project and was targeted for completion by 2016. But the firm now appears to be taking a more cautious approach to the project.

Richard Lancaster, chief executive of CLP Holdings, the firm's parent company, said the group had already spent 10 years looking into how to build a wind farm in Hong Kong, but it did not want to make a hasty decision.

"The decision has to be taken quite carefully as it is a big investment. We need to make sure the costs are fully understood," he said at the World Energy Congress in South Korea last week.

Lancaster said more solid wind data would be required to confirm the project's economic feasibility, and that a couple more years of study were needed.

The lengthening of the study means the multibillion-dollar project is unlikely to be part of the five-year development plan the company submitted to the government earlier this year.