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"New Energy", or sometimes "New and Renewable Energy", generally refers to energy resources and energy carriers other than the traditional fossil fuels of oil, gas, and coal, and nuclear energy. Such energy resources and carriers cover both renewable and non-renewable ones including solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, ocean energy, biomass, small-scale hydro, hydrogen energy, and natural gas hydrates. The term can also be interpreted to include new energy technologies such as fuel cell technologies which utilise the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity without combustion or mechanical movements.
If energy consumption continues to increase at existing levels, projected carbon dioxide emissions generated for the year 2010 are expected to grow by 39% from the 2000 level. The effective use of renewable energy resources will help to reduce Hong Kong's reliance on fossil fuels and also to reduce greenhouse gas emissions arising from the use of fossil fuels.
Information on Renewable Energy
EMSD has published the following information pamphlets / guidance notes aiming to provide information to the public on the applications of renewable energy technologies:
"Know More About Renewable Energy" [PDF format (3.40MB)] - explains the meaning of renewable energy and the benefits of using renewable energy.
"Know More About Solar Water Heating System" [PDF format (3.97MB)] - explains the principles of solar water heating system and provides an overview of the basic components, types of systems and issues to be considered for installation.
"Guidance Notes for Household-scale Solar Water Heating System at Village Houseˇ¨ [PDF format (3.51MB)] - provides general guidelines for the intending purchasers, owners and installers of household-scale solar water heating system installed at village houses to understand the installation requirements and application procedures associated with the installation, operation and maintenance of such solar water heating system.
"Solar Thermal Collectors for Water Heating" [PDF format (4.74MB)] ˇVprovides a brief introduction on solar thermal collectors which capture solar heat for water heating purpose.
"Know More About Photovoltaic System" [PDF format (3.68MB)] - provides information on the working principles and application considerations etc.
The HK RE Net is a thematic website aiming to provide information on various renewable energy technologies to the public, so as to facilitate the wider adoption of such technologies in Hong Kong. Click here to visit the site.
A general description on the concept of Hydrogen Economy (an economy based on wide-spread use of hydrogen as a form of energy carrier) is available from this website. It should be noted that fuel cell technologies for hydrogen economy are still at their early stage of development and the electricity generation costs at present are relatively high.
Technical Guidelines on Grid Connection of Renewable Energy Power Systems
Although renewable energy resources can contribute to mitigating the problems associated with the use of fossil fuels, most of them are intermittent in nature. It is therefore necessary to have a backup power supply such as the electricity grid to meet the demand when the electricity generated by the renewable energy system is unable to provide the power required.
To assist the public to better understand the technical issues and the application procedures relating to grid connection of small-scale renewable energy installations, in 2005 a Working Group was formed to develop a set of guidelines, namely, "Technical Guidelines on Grid Connection of Small-scale Renewable Energy Power Systems". Members of the Working Group included representatives from power companies, professional institutions, consultants and contractors, property developers, renewable energy interest groups etc.
In December 2007, a revised edition of the technical guidelines, titled "Technical Guidelines on Grid Connection of Renewable Energy Power Systems (2007 Edition)" was made available to the public, which extends the applicable capacity limit of the original guidelines from 200kW to 1MW.
Please click here [PDF format (6.15MB)] to download the English version of the "Technical Guidelines on Grid Connection of Renewable Energy Power Systems (2007 Edition)", and here [PDF format (6.05MB) to download the Chinese version.
Renewable Energy Projects
In Hong Kong, the primary use of solar energy at present is the provision of hot water for swimming pools and for the slaughterhouse in Sheung Shui. Some small-scale photovoltaic and wind systems have been installed in remote areas to generate nominal electrical power for lighting and on-site data recording equipment. Examples on government-funded projects utilising renewable energy resources can be found in the following links:
Largest PV Installation in Hong Kong
A 350 kW photovoltaic (PV) installation has been installed on the roof of the New EMSD Headquarters in Kowloon Bay. This installation, being the largest PV installation in Hong Kong, comprises (1) a solar array made up of more than 2,300 PV modules which together has a total area of around 3,180 m2, and (2) a smaller system made up of PV glass laminates.
Each PV module in the solar array is constructed in the form of a rectangular panel and consists of 72 series-connected mono-crystalline silicon PV cells. The panels are mounted on supporting racks in an inclined manner and facing southwards so as to receive maximum solar irradiation during the year.
In addition to these, PV glass laminates are installed on the viewing gallery on the roof of the building. There are totally 20 sets of PV glass laminates, each consisting of 100 series-connected mono-crystalline PV cells sandwiched between two sheets of glass.
The d.c. output of the installation is converted into a.c. by a number of inverters. The a.c. power generated by the PV installation supplements the electricity supply from the power company to meet the electrical power requirement of the building.
Renewable Energy Study
In 2000, a two-stage consultancy study was commissioned to investigate the viability of using renewable energy resources such as solar energy, wind energy, wave energy, landfill gas, etc. in Hong Kong. Stage 1 of the study evaluated the potentials of various forms of renewable energy for wide-scale local use, and their related legal, institutional and promotional issues. It also made recommendations for formulating an implementation strategy. Public consultation on the findings and recommendations was carried out in 2003. Relevant documents can be downloaded via the following links:
Stage 2 of the study involved the installation of different types of photovoltaic panels in Wanchai Tower so as to collect technical data to assess their performance under local weather and environmental conditions. The 12-month performance monitoring work was completed in March 2004. Click here [PDF format (526KB)] to download the Executive Summary of Stage 2 Study.
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