CLP Power, one of two Hong Kong electricity suppliers, has set aside HK$32 million (US$4.1 million) in 2022 to help local businesses become more efficient in their energy consumption through facility upgrade and training.
The initiative is part of its obligations to help Hong Kong combat climate change and improve air quality under a 2018 agreement when it won a 15-year extension to its concession. The firm, part of CLP Holdings, is the sole supplier in Kowloon, New Territories and most outlying islands.CLP Power has provided free energy audits to more than 2,000 commercial and industrial customers in the past three years, offering tips on energy-saving methods such as optimising equipment settings, and subsidies for energy-saving upgrades.
Those efforts have helped century-old bakery Hang Heung Cake Shop modernise its equipment and automate some of its processes, resulting in a 20 per cent reduction in power consumption. V Walk, a mall in Kowloon developed by Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHK), cut 5 per cent of its consumption by optimising its air conditioning settings, CLP said.“Our role is to help our customers and the government achieve their sustainability ambition, to make Hong Kong a greener place to live in,” said Lena Low, senior director for customer and business development at CLP Power. Its strategies include “introducing as many solutions as possible and helping them plan a longer term road map,” she added.
A spokesman of Hang Heung said the bakery has invested in new production lines and energy usage control systems. The firm expects the power bill savings would allow it to recoup its outlay in about five years.
Hong Kong last year announced its carbon neutrality target by 2050, with any residual emissions offset by buying credits to fund decarbonisation projects. Activities in the city’s 41,000-odd buildings account for over 90 per cent of electricity consumption and 60 per cent of greenhouse gas emission, according to the government.Commercial and industrial customers made up 43 per cent of CLP Power’s sales in the first nine months of 2021, while 27 per cent came from the public sector and 30 per cent from residential users. The company aims to phase out coal in its fuel mix and use more renewable energy to control pollution.
Under its 2018 supply concession, CLP Power’s return on assets is capped at 8 per cent. The power generator may be allowed to break that ceiling by achieving at least 4 per cent energy savings on its annual sales volume by 2023.The company is also incentivised to shave up to 60 megawatts from peak demand in its operating areas. In the past three years, CLP Power has helped businesses save over 400 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity, which is equivalent to the annual consumption of 91,000 families, Low said. The firm’s total sales was 33,963 GWh in 2020.
Meanwhile, CLP has also set aside HK$100 million in 2022 to subsidise energy-saving improvement works at some 400 commercial, industrial and residential buildings. Efforts towards the city’s carbon-neutrality target should be a continuous journey, Low added.
Kai Shing Management Services, which manages the V Walk mall in Kowloon, said its collaboration with CLP Power will help its parent SHK meet its long-term power goal, its deputy managing director Kevin Chu said. SHK aims to cut electricity consumption in its investment properties per floor space by 13 per cent by 2030.
