25
Sphere
Blue skies ahead: The new Solar
Power System at Lamma Power Station
reduces carbon dioxide output by 520
tons per year.
“Mighty oaks from little acorns grow,” goes an old saying, and
a particularly apt one for the formal opening by HK Electric, a subsidiary of
Power Assets Holdings Limited on 29 July last year of one of the biggest renew-
able energy projects yet attempted in the city.
HKD23 million (USD2.9 million) might seem a lot to pay for an acorn, but
the effect of putting the Lamma Power Station Solar Power System into com-
mission is estimated to be equivalent to planting 22,000 trees.
The power it generates – while producing no emissions whatsoever – will
allow the station to supply electricity to 150 family homes and reduce carbon
dioxide output by 520 tons per annum.
The Solar Power System in its present form is capable of generating a total of
550 kilowatts, but plans are already being formulated to almost double capacity
to one megawatt by 2012.
That doesn’t mean that solar power, or any other kind of renewable energy
source, is going to replace coal as the main fuel of the Lamma Power Station
anytime soon, though.
The station’s capacity is 3,735 megawatts, and wind and solar power technol-
ogy are still far from a point at which they could conceivably generate that much
electricity.
Nevertheless HK Electric has achieved sufficiently promising results from its
wind turbine and Solar Power System pilot projects to justify the further develop-
ment of green energy, and it is clear that environmentally friendly sources will play
a growing role in generating electricity for the company’s customers in the future.
New wind installation planned
The Hong Kong government has set a target of having two per cent of the city’s
energy produced from renewable carbon neutral sources by 2012, and in support
of that objective HK Electric is also planning a wind farm off the coast of Lamma
Island which is expected to be capable of producing as many as 100 megawatts of
clean electricity.
“We believe that solar power and wind power are the most promising renewable
sources for the Hong Kong environment,” said Frank Lau Fuk-hoi, HK Electric’s
General Manager, Projects. “We are at the pilot project stage. We need to gain expe-
rience in order to embark on further renewable energy projects in the future.”
Results so far are encouraging. The success of commissioning Hong Kong’s first
wind turbine – also situated on Lamma Island – as a source of green electricity has
provided a spur to the second larger wind based installation.
Better than expected efficiency on the part of the Solar Power System justifies the
plan to almost double its capacity.
According to Mr Lau one reason for the better than expected results from the
solar panels installation was the decision to use more advanced Amorphous Silicon
Thin Film Photovoltaic (TFPV) technology.
“Our supplier, DuPont Apollo Ltd, has a joint-venture manufacturing operation in
Shenzhen, a research centre in the Science Park in Hong Kong, and a marketing office
in Hong Kong. This is called the ‘Innovation Circle’, joining hands with the Shenzhen
manufacturing base so we can have a win-win situation for the two cities. We are the
first customer to use this TFPV technology, and they are doing a lot of research work
to improve the efficiency of their products,” he explained.
Progress in the field is accelerating. Just months after the installation of the first
panels on the roofs of the Lamma power station buildings, newer models offering a
higher conversion efficiency have already been developed that will probably be used in
the next phase of the system’s development.
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