Speech at Panel on Economic Development

2018-2023 Development Plans and 2019 Tariff Review of the two power companies

Development of advanced metering infrastructure

Mr CHAN Chun-ying noted that in order to develop AMI, the power companies would replace its electromechanical meters by smart meters with backend facilities under a seven-year programme to be completed by 2025. Concerning the proportion of the project cost to be incurred during the new DP period which would have implication on future tariffs, he asked about the number of meters expected to be replaced by the end of 2023.

Mr C T WAN of HEC said that a majority of the project expenditure would be incurred on the development of the supporting system during the new DP period, while individual meters would be replaced on a gradual basis.

Mr CHIANG Tung-keung of CLP advised that the total cost of CLP’s AMI project was about $3 billion, two-thirds of which would be incurred during the new DP period. This investment amount was only a small portion out of its total investment of $52.9 billion during the new DP period.

SEN said that the Government attached great importance to promote energy saving. The development of AMI would help energy saving by providing instant power consumption information to customers, and achieve operational cost savings through remote meter reading and implementation of demand response schemes.

Electricity Charges Relief

Mr CHAN Chun-ying noted that among the 10 retiring coal-fired generating units of the power companies which would reach their scheduled retirement life between 2020 and 2030, the new DPs only covered the replacement of five of them. He enquired whether the Administration would continue to provide ECR to alleviate the impact of tariff increase during the next DP period.

DSEN said that in addition to those 10 generating units, some more coal units would also retire after 2030. The replacement plan for all these retiring units after 2023 had yet to be confirmed. Possible options could be replacing them by new gas units, or importing more low-carbon energy from the Mainland. The Administration would solicit public views on the long-term carbon intensity reduction target and fuel mix during the forthcoming Public Engagement exercise.