The Hong Kong Government published the Eighth Technical Memorandum (TM) for Allocation of Emission Allowances in Respect of Specified Licences on 25 October 2019.
This memorandum states that the government aims to further reduce the emissions of air pollutants from power plants from 2024 onwards, improving the air quality in both Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region.
As compared with the emission allowances for 2022 set under the Seventh TM, the proposed Eighth TM will further tighten the emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO2) by 40 per cent, nitrogen oxide (NOx) by 29 per cent and reactive separation processes (RSPs) by 20 per cent respectively for the electricity sector.
To improve the air quality and reduce carbon emission, the government is making a great effort to improve the fuel mix for local electricity generation in the past few years and will continue to use more natural gas to replace coal in electricity generation.
“For any new electricity works, we will allocate emission allowances based on the emission performance of a new gas-fired generating unit adopting the latest technology for emission reduction. The EPD will review the TM again not later than 2021 to enable a timely revision of the emission allowances,” the spokesperson for the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) said.
Furthermore, the government is committed to promoting the local development of renewable energy (RE) and is taking the lead in enhancing RE by earmarking USD2 billion to implement various projects at government premises. It is also making great efforts to develop waste-to-energy plants and will install solar generation systems of a larger scale at suitable reservoir and landfill locations.
The new TM will be tabled at the Legislative Council on 30 October for commencement by the end of 2019. In accordance with the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO), the new set of emission allowances will come into effect on 1 January 2024. ― Construction+ Online
