Wong Kam-sing is an architect by profession and has been promoting green building and building energy efficiency over the past years. He had served as the Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Green Building Council and the Chairman of the Professional Green Building Council. He has contributed to the development of local green building standards and taken part in a number of green building projects.
Before joining the Government, he has contributed to the work of a number of Government advisory bodies. In particular, he had active involvement in the public engagement processes of the Council for Sustainable Development. He was the convener of the Support Group on Combating Climate Change: Energy Saving and Carbon Emission Reduction in Buildings. He was also a member of the Support Group on Building Design to Foster a Quality and Sustainable Built Environment.
Mr Wong graduated from the Department of Architecture of the University of Hong Kong. He received further education on green building from the University of British Columbia in Canada. He has been appointed as the Secretary for the Environment of the HKSAR Government and assumed the post on 1 July 2012.
Electricity in Hong Kong has traditionally been provided by two privately-owned power companies and they are regulated by contractual agreements, i.e. the Scheme of Control Agreements (SCAs). The current SCAs expire in end-2018, giving us an opportunity to consider how to further develop our electricity market and improve our regulatory framework. In this regard, we conducted a review of the future development of the electricity market and consulted the public on the relevant key issues in 2015.
In the review, we assessed the market readiness for introducing competition to the electricity market in 2018, which is our long-term goal. While we concluded that there will not be a substantial new supply source in the near term, we have put forward in the public consultation document the necessary preparatory work to pave the way for introducing potential new suppliers. We also consider it appropriate to continue with the current contractual arrangement as a regulatory tool, taking into consideration that the market situation would unlikely have any major changes in the near future and that we have been able to achieve the four energy policy objectives of safety, reliability, affordability and environmental protection.
The responses we received during the public consultation supported our proposals in these areas, and we are currently in the process of discussing new SCAs with the power companies. In the area of market opening, we are pursuing inclusion of relevant terms in the agreements that would require the power companies to co-operate with us on conducting certain joint studies relating to access to their power grids, and enhancing interconnection between the power grids of Hong Kong and Mainland China – a possible new supply source for us – as well as between existing power grids in Hong Kong. These studies will help us prepare for the introduction of new suppliers when the requisite market conditions are present, and will be instrumental to facilitating the future development of the electricity market.
Apart from the regulatory regime, another key aspect of the long-term development of the electricity market is the future fuel mix for electricity generation. We conducted a public consultation in 2014 on two fuel mix options to meet our electricity demand and achieve our environmental targets: (i) to import electricity from Mainland China or (ii) to use more natural gas for local generation. Most respondents supported the use of more natural gas option and, when conducting the Public Consultation on the Future Development of the Electricity Market, we announced our plan to implement the fuel mix for 2020. This plan would increase the share of natural gas electricity generation from the current 20% to around 50% of our fuel mix, while maintaining the current nuclear import at around 25% in 2020. The remaining demand will be met by coal-fired generation and renewable energy (RE).
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government attaches great importance to combating climate change. Actions are being taken on various fronts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with a view to reducing the territory’s carbon intensity by 50-60% by 2020 compared with the 2005 levels.
To achieve this, the Government has focused on the major emitters – the power and transport sectors. Electricity generation accounts for 68% of carbon emissions in Hong Kong. By 2020, we shall substantially increase the percentage of natural gas generation to around 50%. Meanwhile, road transport is the second biggest carbon emitter, constituting 17% of total emissions. In order to reduce carbon emissions from the transport sector, the Government has been striving to:
With the above efforts, plus other initiatives on energy saving and waste management, we are confident of achieving our carbon reduction target for 2020.
We will continue to enhance energy sustainability through the promotion of energy conservation and RE.
Energy Conservation
Improving buildings’ energy efficiency can help reduce the city’s GHG emissions, as they account for about 90% of the total electricity consumption and 60% of the GHG emissions. We have implemented the Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance (Cap. 610), which requires central building services installations in newly constructed buildings and buildings undergoing major renovation to meet the minimum energy efficiency standards stipulated in the Code of Practice for Energy Efficiency of Building Services Installation (commonly called “BEC”). The BEC standards are reviewed once every three years to reflect the latest international standards and technological advancements. The first review has been completed and the new standards take effect this year. The new standards are expected to bring cumulative energy savings of 5 billion kilowatt hours by 2025, equivalent to GHG reductions of about 3.5 million tonnes. Cap. 610 also require commercial building owners to carry out energy audits for central building services installation in accordance with the Code of Practice for Building Energy Audit (commonly called “EAC”) once every 10 years. The EAC is also reviewed regularly.
The Government has been taking the lead to set specific electricity reduction targets for government buildings since 2003. We have already achieved energy savings of more than 15% over the past 12 years, and are now working towards the target of achieving an additional 5% saving in the financial years from 2015-16 to 2019-20, under comparable operating conditions in 2013-14. To achieve the target, we are conducting energy audits in over 300 major government buildings, and will encourage the relevant bureaus and departments to strengthen energy saving efforts through appointing green managers and energy wardens, adopting better housekeeping measures and implementing electricity saving projects in the light of the audit findings.
The Environment Bureau (ENB) published the first ever “Energy Saving Plan for Hong Kong’s Built Environment 2015 ~ 2025+” (Energy Saving Plan) in May 2015, which sets the new target of reducing Hong Kong’s energy intensity by 40% by 2025. To achieve this target, the community has to save about 6% energy by 2025 and ENB will mobilise our stakeholders and the entire community to promote energy saving practices. Dialogue sessions with different sectors are also being held to discuss how we could work together to achieve deeper energy savings.
In 2015, ENB and the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department launched the “Energy Saving for All” Campaign to promote energy saving and enhance energy efficiency. It comprised the Energy Saving Charter on Indoor Temperature, the launch of the Energy Saving for All dedicated website, the New Energy New Generation Solar Car Competition, the Youth Energy Saving Award and the “Energy Saving for All” TV Announcement in the Public Interest. To sustain the momentum, we launched a new round of “Energy Saving for All” Campaign in June 2016 to further promote the message of saving energy. The campaign includes, among others, an Energy Saving Charter where signatories pledge to maintain average indoor air temperature between 24-26ºC during the summer months, switch off electrical appliances when not in use, and procure energy efficient appliances.
RE
Hong Kong’s physical environment has constrained the wide application of RE. This notwithstanding, the Government is committed to promoting the adoption, application and development of RE by taking the lead where technically feasible and cost effective.
The Government promulgated a comprehensive target-based green performance framework for Government buildings in April 2009, which includes RE adoption targets for new Government buildings, e.g., at least 1% of the power supply in all newly built schools and education buildings should come from RE, and at least 15% of the public lighting systems in all newly built public spaces and parks should be powered by RE. The Government has also been installing RE systems in various Government buildings and public facilities, including Government offices, hospitals, schools, sewage treatment plants and landfills, etc.
Waste-management facilities can also turn waste into RE. We have covered in the “Hong Kong: Blueprint for Sustainable Use of Resources 2013-2022” and “A Food Waste and Yard Waste Plan for Hong Kong 2014-2022”, a number of waste-to-energy facilities – including sludge treatment, integrated waste management and organic waste treatment. Based on the projects already completed and being planned, we estimate that the share of RE from waste will meet about 1% of total electricity demand by the early 2020s.
During the Public Consultation on the Future Development of the Electricity Market, public perception towards the development of RE was generally positive. Therefore, in our discussion with the two power companies on the new SCAs, we will consider introducing new measures to further promote the development of RE, including encouraging the development of distributed RE and enhancing arrangements for the grid connection of RE power systems.
The technological advances in RE have allowed rapid growth in its adoption in recent years. As specified earlier, these advances have allowed us to promote the application and development of RE in spite of our physical constraints. We will continue our efforts on this front and consider introducing new measures, such as facilitating grid connection for distributed RE systems.
The theme is very relevant to the challenges that we are currently facing, particularly in light of COP21. While climate change is a major challenge, it also offers us the chance to pursue livability by embarking on a low-carbon path. The changes in the fossil fuel market and the development of energy technologies in the past few years have also provided a unique opportunity for us to rethink how we can be more holistic and make greater efforts in approaching climate change.