Tuen Mun, southern Lantau residents wary of hosting rubbish-burning power plant
The government is eyeing two sites, in Tuen Mun and off Lantau Island, for the location of a HK$4 billion waste-burning power station that officials claim is essential to lengthening the life of the city's shrinking landfills.
Officials said the two sites were picked from a list of six based on stringent criteria to minimise the impact. But nearby residents have vowed to oppose the plan. Under the waste-incineration plan announced yesterday, the facility would be located either in the ash lagoon at Tsang Tsui in Tuen Mun or on a 10-hectare reclaimed site in Shek Kwu Chau, an island off southern Lantau.
The Tuen Mun location is near both a huge landfill and the site of another proposed incinerator, to burn sludge from wastewater treatment. The Shek Kwu Chau site now houses a drug rehabilitation centre.
According to initial assessments, the Tuen Mun site seems to be the ideal location because of nearby infrastructure, its downwind location from the city centre, and closeness to the power grid - through which energy generated by incineration could be transferred with ease.
The island site also has advantages - its remoteness and sparse population, although the nearby ocean includes a fish nursery ground and dolphin habitat.
Officials said the incinerator would have an initial burning capacity of 3,000 tonnes a day, with room for further expansion. A pilot waste-separation facility would also be built on the site.