Zitong Financial App News, CLP Holdings Limited (00002) announced that electricity sales in Hong Kong, China increased to 27.506 billion kilowatt-hours in the first nine months of 2021, an increase of 4.1 percent over the same period last year. With the implementation of the vaccination programme and the relaxation of social distance restrictions, more people have returned to work and school, the Hong Kong economy has gradually recovered and the demand for electricity has increased. The hot weather this summer has led to an increase in electricity consumption.
CLP continues to focus on investment projects to reduce carbon emissions from power supply in Hong Kong. The company will promote key natural gas projects, which will gradually replace coal-fired power generation and further reduce the carbon intensity of power generation in Hong Kong. The preliminary civil engineering of the second combined cycle gas turbine under construction at the Longgutan Power Plant has been completed, and the related engineering design, procurement and construction contracts are progressing smoothly. The unit is expected to be put into service in 2023. At the same time, the offshore LNG receiving terminal project is carrying out the installation of the receiving terminal and the laying of submarine gas pipelines as planned. the project is expected to be completed in 2022, which will bring another source of natural gas supply to Hong Kong.
With the continuous improvement in the cost-effectiveness of offshore wind turbines, the CLP is conducting a preliminary study on the feasibility of building an offshore wind farm in the southeastern waters of Hong Kong to explore opportunities for increasing local renewable energy generation.
CLP's "feed-in tariff for renewable energy" plan continues to receive customer support. As at the end of September, projects that had been approved or connected to the grid had a total generating capacity of over 239 megawatts. CLP continues to gradually replace traditional meters with smart meters for all Hong Kong customers, and more than 1.1 million smart meters have been installed by the end of September. Smart meters enable customers to have a better understanding of electricity consumption and participate in demand side management programmes to reduce electricity consumption.
As mainland China's economy recovers from the novel coronavirus epidemic, CLP's zero-carbon power mix is stable, but high coal prices have seriously undermined thermal power capacity.
In Guangdong Province, the performance of the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station has remained stable, while the generating capacity of the Yangjiang Nuclear Power Station has also increased compared with the same period last year.
Thanks to the longer duration of sunshine, the solar power generation of the CLP has increased slightly compared with the same period last year. The combined hydropower generation decreased due to the weakening of water resources in Sichuan and Guangdong provinces.
Due to rising electricity demand and reduced competition from hydropower stations, the generating capacity of CLP's Fangchenggang power plant in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region remains at a high level. However, as pointed out in the CLP's 2021 interim results report, the rise in coal prices put significant pressure on the plant's profits in the first half of 2021 and led to losses in the operation of the thermal power portfolio. Since then, coal prices have continued to rise, putting further pressure on the profits and contributions of all CLP coal-fired assets.
As the first investment in the distribution business in the mainland, CLP launched an incremental distribution network located in Fangchenggang High-tech Park in 2020 to continue to attract new customers.
In addition, the Board declared a third interim dividend of HK $0.63 per share in 2021 (HK $0.63 per share in 2020), which will be paid on 15 December 2021 to shareholders who have been registered on the register of shareholders on December 6, 2021.