Page 34 - Sphere No.14 (Jul 2005)

T H E N . . . A N D N O W
SPHERE 32
Hi-Energy
Empowers
Hong Kong
N ELECTRICITY INDUSTRY PIONEER, The Hongkong
Electric Co., Ltd. (HEC) was incorporated in 1889. It
has seen many changes since then.
HEC’s substations illustrate one of the most visually strik-
ing changes. A vital part of the supply process, substations
gather and distribute electricity for a given population area.
Then … In the early 1920s, when land was needed for
substations, Hong Kong’s prime real estate prices were
probably the highest in the world. So even though the first
substations required sites of just 1,200 sq ft – and HEC had
fewer than 50 then – they often had a dual purpose. In
many of them, the upper floors were used as living quarters
for staff. Other substations served as retail shops.
Now … The impressive tower that is the HEC Tamar
Substation on a 20,000 sq ft site on Hong Kong Island,
shows how things have changed. It is one of HEC’s most
modern substations – out of more than 3,000 – and almost
indistinguishable from the surrounding commercial high-
rises. Tamar is truly a power house, whose 240 megawatt-
ampere capacity meets the huge demand for electricity from
the Central, Admiralty and Wan Chai districts.
And this giant facility can even be operated unmanned:
all switching is handled by a remote system control centre
on the other side of Hong Kong Island. A far cry indeed from
the days when Hongkong Electric’s engineers were literally
“living over the shop”!
A