Hong Kong’s Clean Energy Future Will Be Mostly Nuclear

(Bloomberg) -- Nuclear power will play the largest role in decarbonizing Hong Kong’s energy sector because of its reliability, according to the city’s top electricity provider.

CLP Holdings Ltd. plans to import increasing amounts of clean electricity from mainland China to help Hong Kong meet its goal of making 60%-70% of its energy carbon-free by 2035, Chief Executive Officer T.K. Chiang said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. The majority of that will come from nuclear plants because it’s more reliable than intermittent generation from wind and solar farms, he said.

“Nuclear power will be more stable and dispatchable,” he said, referring to a plant’s ability to adjust generation to meet grid demand. “Renewable energy is intermittent and we would need to have other measures to make sure we have a stable power system.”

Atomic energy is seeing a renaissance around the world, with several countries pursuing deals to build reactors to help their energy transition after shunning the clean power source for years due to safety concerns.

CLP owns stakes in Yangjiang and Daya Bay nuclear plants in China, the latter of which exports about 80% of its power to Hong Kong. The company is looking for more nuclear investment opportunities in the mainland, Chiang said. Any further deals to import nuclear power would require government-to-government agreements, he added. 

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(Company corrects amount of power Daya Bay exports to Hong Kong in last paragraph of story published on Aug. 6)

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