Hong Kong will consider the implications of the Fukushima nuclear crisis and its impact on the nuclear industry before deciding whether to harness more nuclear energy from the mainland, environment officials say.
The unfolding crisis has led a number of nations to review the role and safety of nuclear power, with China ordering safety checks at all existing plants and suspending the approval of new projects.
But Beijing's caution has also thrown into uncertainty Hong Kong's ambitious proposal to meet about half of its electricity needs with nuclear power from Guangdong by 2020. The proposal aims to lower the city's carbon intensity - a measure of carbon emitted per unit of GDP - by 60 per cent.
To reach the target, Hong Kong would require power from at least two new nuclear reactors, along with the two existing 984-megawatt reactors at Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station, 50 kilometres from the city, which supplies 23 per cent of Hong Kong's electricity. The remainder comes from coal and gas.
Hong Kong officials never spelt out where the new reactors would be built and to what extent the city would participate in the project. Commenting on Beijing's move, officials stressed that they still had not made up their mind whether to seek more nuclear energy.
A spokesman for the Environment Bureau said it was still studying views collected in a consultation exercise on climate change strategy before deciding if the target of sourcing half the city's energy from nuclear power would be adopted.