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Vicki Kwong

The Observatory's weather station at Sha Chau has started using wind for some of its energy needs.

 The station is the first in Hong Kong to use wind as a supplement to solar-powered equipment.

 It was built in 1997 and is located 6km north of Lantau. It has mainly been used to measure wind speeds.

 Senior scientific officer Yeung King-kay said the new technology would provide an alternative source of power at a relatively low cost.

 'It is an environmentally friendly way to increase efficiency as it makes use of re-usable energy,' he said.

 According to Dr Yeung, solar-powered equipment could be up to 10 times more expensive than wind power.

 Since the 1980s, the Observatory has used solar energy to power remote automatic stations which help give early warnings of tropical cyclones, rainstorms and cold fronts.

 But the operation of these stations is affected by insufficient sunshine.

 'So the use of wind energy will complement solar energy when there is little sunshine,' Dr Yeung said. He added that the opposite would happen when there was no wind.

 'With the weather station consuming about 50 watts, the wind turbine is capable of producing sufficient power even with moderate winds.'  Wind power is generated by a turbine with three rotating blades, each about one metre long.

 If the Sha Chau experiment is satisfactory, Dr Yeung said the Observatory would install wind turbines in three to four other remote weather stations in the next year.



Weather station using wind-powered energy