The team had joined a very informative tour to Lamma Power Station led by Ir Edmond Pang of HK Electric.

Lamma Power Station is located at a 50-hectare site at Po Lo Tsui at Lamma Island, which was gazetted and granted by the Hong Kong Government to the Company in December 1978.

The power behind Hong Kong

In 1889, Hong Kong's first power station started operating in Electric Street. The streets surrounding it were thus named according to the Three-Character Chinese classic verse of "Three luminaries – the sun, the moon and the stars", the three major elements that generate electricity. Star Street, Sun Street and Moon Street are some of the oldest streets located in the area. Following the Wanchai Power Station (1890-1922), North Point Power Station come into service from 1918-1972. The third power station was situated at Apleichau. It was commissioned in 1968 and was oil-fired. By 1981 the modern station with the state-of-the-art computerized control was fully developed.

Building Lamma Power Station

The site of Lamma Power Station was selected following a comprehensive environmental impact assessment (EIA) study and consultation with the Environmental Protection Department at the project inception stage. The Lamma Power Station and Lamma Power Station Extension have a total installed capacity of 3,737MW with eight coal-fired units, five as turbine units, one wind turbine, one solar power system and two combined cycle units. The station was developed in 4 stages.

Stage 1

Stage 1, which comprises three 250MW coal-fired units and auxiliaries including oil, coal handling and storage plants for the entire power station, was completed in 1984. The first and second units, both designed for dual firing on both coal and oil, were synchronised in April and August 1982 respectively. The third 250MW unit consists of twin turbo-generators fed by a single coal-fired boiler. The success of this conversion created an additional 250MW coal-firing capability for the company, thus achieving savings in fuel costs.

Stage 2

The second stage of development, fully completed in 1991, comprises three 350MW units with semi outdoor- type coal-fired boilers, one 55MW gas turbine and six 125MW gas turbines. The gas turbines are used for peak-lopping and providing back-up power supply during emergencies. In 2002, two of the 125MW gas turbines were converted into a combined-cycle block with the addition of two heat recovery steam generators and a steam turbine, and further converted to gas-firing with a total power generation capacity of 345MW in 2008.

Stage 3

Stage 3 comprises two 350MW coal-fired units which were synchronised in October 1995 and September 1997 respectively.

Stage 4

Lamma Power Station Extension was developed on reclaimed land to the south of the power station, the extension was planned to feature six gas-fired combined-cycle units that use natural gas as fuel to generate electricity. The first 335MW unit (L9) was synchronised in July 2006, using liquefied natural gas from Australia, and transmitted to the station through a 93km submarine pipeline from the gas terminal in Shenzhen. To harness more renewable energy, a 550kW solar power system was commissioned in July 2010, raising the total installed capacity of Lamma Power Station to 3,736MW.

Comprehensive environmental protection measures

Improving Air Quality: Electrostatic precipitators extracts 99.5% of the fly ash from the flue gas before emission; flue gas desulphurization removing 90% of sulphur dioxide in the flue gas; low NOx burners (LNB system) reduces 2/3 concentration of NOx comparing to conventional system; converted the boiler start-up fuel systems for four coal-fired units to us Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel (ULSD) in 2010; advanced automatic combustion control system ensures complete combustion and minimizes the formation of carbon monoxide; tall chimneys for coal-fire units dispersing any pollutants to negligible concentrations at ground level; fugitive coal dust mission is minimized by spraying a dust suppressant onto the coal at the coal unloaders and major transfer points to lower the dustiness of the coal; monitoring dust emission and air monitoring stations along southern part of Hong Kong Island and Lantau.

Preserving Our Water: Seawater monitoring; submerged scraper conveyors; rain and effluent collection; foam suppression water-spraying system.

Sound Management: Noise monitoring.

Effective By-product Management: Coal ash can be used for landfill purposes or for making cement and brick, and is marketed to contractors as a construction material for building industry. Gypsum is a solid by-product from the FGD systems and we promote its beneficial use in industry.

Powering green into the future

HK Electric started using natural gas in 2006 with its first 335MW gas-fired combined-cycle generating unit. The unit started serving as the second gas-fired base load combined cycle unit in 2010. Gas-fired electricity generation is environmentally friendly, as it emits minimal quantities of sulphur dioxide and dust particulates, while nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide emissions are greatly reduced. This is complemented by other sustainable initiatives including the collection of rainwater for recycling from the roofs of L9 building and 275kV Switching Station; using on-site rubble to create a marine-life-friendly seawall and the use of solar-powered street lighting.

In July 2010, HK Electric commissioned a commercial-scale solar power system, which is the largest of its kind in Hong Kong, and also the first large scale project applying the amorphous silicon thin film photovoltaic (TFPV) panels in the territory. The solar panels were erected on the rooftops of the Main Station Building at Lamma Power Station. The TFPV modules consume less silicon in the production process and are more environmentally friendly. They also perform better under high temperatures and low irradiance with higher efficiency and cost-effectiveness. To maximize power output, all panels are set to face south and are inclined at 22 degrees.

In this fall, we are planning for another technical visit to learn more about the Natural Gas electricity generation. This will be another interesting event you never want to miss.