Hong Kong’s largest electricity supplier pledges to ensure stable supply of power after 3 voltage dips
- Three voltage dips this year left more than 200 residents trapped in lifts, with CLP Power saying bad weather played role in most of interruptions
- But company stops short of saying whether it will follow lawmakers’ calls to install devices to mitigate power interruptions in buildings free of charge and adopt penalty system
Hong Kong’s largest electricity supplier has pledged to strengthen measures to ensure the stable supply of power after three voltage dips this year left more than 200 residents trapped in lifts, with the utility saying bad weather played a role in most of the interruptions.
But CLP Power stopped short of saying whether it would follow lawmakers’ calls to install devices to mitigate power interruptions in old buildings free of charge and adopt a penalty system for when people became trapped in lifts due to voltage dips.
CLP has logged three voltage dips so far this year, after recording nine last year.
Michael Lau Ho-yin, the firm’s director of power systems, said on Thursday that 80 per cent of incidents tied to voltage dips were caused by external factors such as typhoons, lightning strikes or interfering objects such as drones, balloons or construction machinery.
“More than 30 per cent of our power supply system consists of outdoor overhead cables, which are prone to voltage dips caused by typhoons, lightning strikes or interference from external objects,” Lau said. “Underground cables are also at risk of voltage dips due to third-party excavation projects causing damage.”
He said CLP Power, which serves Kowloon, the New Territories and most outlying islands, had adopted various measures such as installing lightning arresters, clipping trees and conducting inspections of third-party projects to mitigate the impact on cables.