OREANDA-NEWS. April 29, 2013. CLP Power Hong Kong Limited’s Town Island Renewable Energy (RE) Supply Project was named one of the “Hong Kong People Engineering Wonders in the 21st Century” in a prestigious public vote.

The award – the only one given to an RE-related project among 10 winning works in the contest organized by The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers – is recognition of CLP’s commitment to promoting sustainability, the use of clean energy and caring for the community.

The Town Island RE Supply Project, which powers a non - profit drug rehabilitation centre run by Operation Dawn, is Hong Kong’s first commercial - scale standalone RE supply system.

It comprises 672 solar panels, two wind turbines and 576 batteries, with a generating capacity of up to 200kW which is capable of lighting up 9,600 compact fluorescent lamps.

As the system is not connected to the grid, it features batteries capable of storing over 1,000 kWh of electricity to provide a power supply lasting for around 30 hours. As of March 2013, the system had generated more than 66,000 kWh of electricity, equivalent to the monthly consumption of 150 four - member households.

It had achieved a significant reduction of over 25,000 kg in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

Speaking at the award ceremony today, Mr. Paul Poon, Managing Director - Designate for CLP Power Hong Kong, said:

“We are very honoured to learn that the Town Island system has been so widely recognised by the public and chosen as an Engineering Wonder.

This is a very meaningful project. It is the first of its kind in Hong Kong and a milestone in the use of clean energy.

In addition, it helps provide those living on the Island a respectable living standard. ”CLP has teamed up with local universities and shared data on the ground - breaking project for research and educational purposes, so to explore the applicability of similar RE projects in Hong Kong in future, Mr Poon added.

The “zero emission” project was specially designed to optimise the use of solar, wind and land resources to meet the basic energy needs of Town Island – setting itself a goal to “get the best out of the heaven and earth and harmonise mankind’s demand”.

Switching on the power at Town Island was only the beginning. CLP engineers and employees have since continued their connection with the project by fundraising for the centre and by volunteering as tutors to train inmates to help equip them to return to the community.

Staff and inmates at the centre, located off Sai Kung, used to rely on the intermittent running of small diesel generators for a few hours every day for their power supply.

Since the commissioning of the first phase of the system in 2010, reliable electricity has been a vailable to meet their basic energy needs.

CLP’s ambition has been to provide renewable energy for the inhabitants and support them as they prepare to reintegrate into society.

CLP will showcase its Town Island RE Supply Project at an exhibition of the 10 Hong Kong People Engineering Wonders in the 21st Century, which will be held at the main lobby of Hong Kong Science Museum from 20 - 26 April 2013 and at the Central Atrium of Olympian City 2 from 27 - 28 April 2013.

A dedicated website on the project can be found at https://www.clpgroup.com/poweru/eng/town_island/