HK Electric to commission new gas-fired unit next year
Hong Kong power utility HK Electric on November 22 said its new gas-fired unit will be commissioned in the first quarter of 2022.
“HK Electric took a major step forward in its transition from coal to gas generation with the successful synchronisation of another new gas-fired unit L11 today,” the company said. “When unit L11 is commissioned in the first quarter next year, gas-fired generation will account for over 50% of total output.”
HK Electric managing director Wan Chi-tin said that in order to facilitate fuel switching from coal to gas, the utility needs to build three new gas-fired units within the 2019-2023 development plan.
“With the commissioning of L10 last year, there was a substantial increase in the proportion of gas-fired generation. And with L11 coming on stream, we have taken a major step forward to provide customers with cleaner power," Wan said.
The 380-MW L11 generating unit will be used as a baseload machine and its thermal efficiency will be around 58.5%, much higher than the existing coal-fired units. To further enhance its emission performance, L11 is equipped with a selective catalytic reduction system to help reduce nitrogen oxide emission in the process of power generation, HK Electric said.
The commissioning of L11 will allow HK Electric to retire an older gas-fired unit, GT57, as well as two coal-fired units sometime next year, while the remaining coal-fired units will be phased out by the early 2030s, it said.
Wan said that apart from L11, the installation of another gas-fired unit, L12, has begun and is on track to be commissioned in 2023. This will further boost the gas-fired generation to about 70% of the company's total output and reduce carbon emissions by 40% when compared to 2005.
HK Electric said that the offshore LNG terminal currently under construction is scheduled for commissioning around mid-2022. HK Electric is developing the terminal in a joint venture with Castle Peak Power (Capco). The two utilities in 2019 had signed an agreement with Shell Eastern Trading for long-term LNG supplies. Capco is a 70:30 joint venture of CLP Power Hong Kong and China Southern Power Grid International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Southern Power Grid Co.