CLP-Wind Prospect wind farm approved

The realisation of renewable energy in Hong Kong progressed after the EIA's approval of CLP and Wind Prospect's proposed offshore wind farm project. It signifies that building a commercial scale offshore wind farm of up to 200MW in the south-eastern waters of Hong Kong is environmentally acceptable.

This offshore windfarm is in support of Hong Kong Government's 1-2 percent renewable energy target and calls from the community for RE. The project will provide clean energy for 80,000 households and will avoid over 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide emission every year.

"With this green light on the environmental front, we will soon move on to the rest of the feasibility study of the project. The next phase of the project is the installation of a wind mast at the proposed site, followed by the collection of on-site wind and wave data. We hope a full business case will be ready for assessment by 2011," said Mr Alex Tancock, General Manager of Wind Prospect HK Ltd.

"We will continue to listen to views and opinion from the public as our feasibility study progresses," noted Mr Joseph Law, Project Manager – Hong Kong Renewable Energy of CLP Power HK Ltd.

CLP and Wind Prospect organised project briefings and visits to project site for interested groups over past four years to consult their views. A 30-day public consultation on the project's Environmental Impact Assessment study ended in early July. Out of about 100 responses CLP received from the public via dedicated project website, 67 percent expressed support towards the proposed project and believed the move was a good start for Hong Kong.

Wind Prospect began the feasibility study in 2005 and CLP joined as a partner in 2006.

This initiative will also contribute to achieving CLP’s voluntary target in its Climate Vision 2050 of increasing the non-carbon-emitting generating capacity in the Group’s portfolio to 20 percent by 2020.