On June 23rd, in the early hours of the morning, China Light and Power (CLP) experienced another incident. There was a sudden voltage drop in the 400,000-volt overhead power supply system connecting Yuen Long to Shenzhen, causing a complete power outage at the Fung Wan Court building in Diamond Hill for over an hour. The CLP suspects that the accident was due to the impact of unstable weather conditions and has apologized to customers for the inconvenience caused. The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) has demanded the CLP to promptly investigate the cause of the entire incident and formulate an improvement plan, with a detailed report to be submitted within four weeks.
A spokesperson for the CLP stated that the incident occurred at around 2:47 am during a thunderstorm warning period. It is suspected that the overhead power supply system was affected by the unstable weather conditions, resulting in a brief voltage drop recorded in the system. While the power supply was not interrupted, some customers may have experienced dimming or flickering lights, and some equipment may have activated protective devices and tripped. Upon receiving reports of power outages in individual buildings, CLP engineers promptly inspected the sites and discovered that the buildings had arranged for electricians to restart the equipment and restore power.
At 1:33 pm on the same day, the Environmental Protection Department expressed great concern about the incident. The Director of the department, Che Chin-wan, believes that it is necessary to strengthen the power supply system’s ability to withstand adverse weather conditions, particularly the impact of thunderstorms, without waiting for the review results requested earlier from the CLP and EMSD.
Che Chin-wan instructed the Director of the EMSD to follow up immediately with the CLP on how to enhance the lightning protection capabilities of the power supply system, especially the 400,000-volt transmission line towers, to mitigate the risks posed by the high frequency of thunderstorm warnings in recent months. The EMSD has also required the CLP to promptly investigate the cause of the entire incident and formulate an improvement plan in accordance with the Electricity Ordinance, with a detailed report to be submitted within four weeks.
On April 6th, there was a sudden voltage drop in Kowloon and the New Territories, leading to multiple incidents of trapped lifts and fire alarm activation. It was preliminarily suspected to be caused by equipment failures at the Lung Kwu Tan Power Station. The EMSD requested the CLP to promptly investigate the cause of the accident and submit a detailed report within four weeks.
On the evening of June 12th, a power outage occurred in Wong Tai Sin, resulting in a complete power supply interruption affecting approximately 2,250 customers. The Environmental Department requested the CLP to allocate funds and appointed an independent consultant from the EMSD to re-examine all power outage incidents that occurred in the past three years, comprehensively review the management system of the power supply system, and make comprehensive recommendations for improving the stability and reliability of the power supply and reducing the occurrence of future incidents, with the work to be completed within 12 months and a report submitted.
In May of this year, the CLP had previously indicated that there were nine cases of sudden voltage drop incidents last year and three cases in the first quarter of this year, with 80% attributed to external factors such as weather, trees, and damage caused by third-party engineering projects.