Government highly concerned about power supply incident in some areas on Hong Kong

Island
***********************************************************************************
******

The Government is very concerned about the power supply incident in some areas
on Hong Kong Island at around 0.45am today (April 19). In accordance with the
established mechanism, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD)
received the report on the incident from The Hongkong Electric Company, Limited
(HEC) at around 1.27am. Subsequently, the EMSD has been closely following up with
the HEC on the development of the incident, and monitoring the progress of repair
work. The EMSD has also requested the HEC to identify the cause of the incident and
submit a detailed report on the incident within four weeks. The EMSD will continue
to closely follow up with the HEC and urge the HEC to take appropriate improvement
measures.

According to the Electricity Ordinance (Cap. 406) (the Ordinance), the EMSD
monitors the operation of the power companies to ensure a safe and reliable supply
of electricity in Hong Kong. The Ordinance stipulates the powers and obligations of
electricity suppliers, including, in the case of an electrical accident, providing
the Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services a report of the cause and what
remedial action has been, or will be done, to prevent a recurrence of the accident.
Furthermore, the EMSD conducts monthly inspections on the facilities and operation
of the power companies and monitors their technical and electrical safety
performance. The EMSD has been maintaining close communication with the power
companies and conducts regular meetings to discuss the safety of the power supply
facilities.

The objectives of the Government's energy policies are to ensure energy needs
of the community are met safely, reliably and efficiently at reasonable prices, to
minimise the environmental impact of energy production and use, and to promote the
efficient use and conservation of energy. The Scheme of Control Agreements (SCAs)
provide a framework for the Government to monitor the corporate affairs of the
power companies. By signing the SCAs, the power companies pledge to provide
sufficient facilities to meet the electricity demand, and are responsible for the
provision, operation and proper maintenance of their facilities. In addition, the
power companies must strictly abide by their responsibilities, including
maintaining high efficiency and quality in terms of reliability of power supply.

In accordance with the SCAs, the Government conducts annual auditing review
with the power companies with regards to technical, environmental and financial
performance, including customer performance, with an incentive and penalty
mechanism established, of the power companies. Among them, the performance of
"supply reliability" is the measure of the average service availability index
achieved by the HEC in that year; the "supply restoration" is the measure of the
average grid supply restoration time achieved by the HEC in that year. The
incentive and penalty mechanism in the SCAs is calculated on the basis of annual
settlement. We will follow up in the auditing review of the year and examine
whether this power supply incident will trigger the relevant incentive and penalty
mechanism.

The Government implements policies in the best interests of the public. The
Environment and Ecology Bureau will conduct an interim review on the SCAs with the
two power companies this year. We will take into account the public's views, the
performance of the two power companies in the past few years and the latest
economic environment, and propose modifications to the SCAs to the two power
companies, including proposals on the incentive and penalty mechanism, such as the
need to consider the circumstance of each incident, rather than simply calculating
the time for power outage or power restoration, etc., with a view to better
safeguarding the public interest.

Ends/Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Issued at HKT 23:20

NNNN