Hong Kong launches renewables and energy efficiency plan

It will be rolled out on October 2018.

The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (China) has launched a new Scheme of Control Agreement (SCA), which is scheduled to come into force by October 2018, and will provide incentives to the domestic power companies Hongkong Electric (HKE) and CLP Power.

New Feed-in-tariffs (FiTs) and renewable energy certificates (RECs) will be introduced and under the SCA. FiT rates will be set for solar and wind systems at HKS$3/kWh, i.e. US$38c/kWh (>200 kW to ≤1 MW), HK$4/kWh, i.e. US$51c/kWh (>10 kW to ≤200 kW) and HK$5/kWh, i.e. US$64c/kWh (≤10 kW) depending on the generation capacity of the concerned renewable energy system. Once agreed, these FiT rates will apply for the lifetime of the project up to the end of 2033. In addition, RECs will be introduced in November 2018 for customer subscription to support the development of renewables in Hong Kong.

The existing Smart Power Fund (SPF) with a budget of HK$5m/year (US$0.6m/year) will be replaced by the Smart Power Building Fund (SPBF) with a budget of HK$5m/year (US$3.2m/year) that will focus on industrial, commercial and non-commercial buildings in HK Electric’s supply area. Free energy audit services will be strengthened (from 50 to 200 audits per year) for HK Electric's non-residential customers to help identify energy saving opportunities at their premises. Customers having completed energy audits may benefit from a Smart Power Loan. HKE and CLP Power will establish a new Smart Power Care Fund (SPCF) to help replace or provide energy-efficient household appliances or carry out handy improvement works to ensure the safe use of electricity.

This article was originally published by Enerdata.