Macau CEM expects its new power plant in Coloane to be up and running in five years time, Bernie Leong Wa Kun, chairman of the electricity utility’s executive committee, said on Thursday.
Leong made the announcement on the sidelines of a Spring Festival media luncheon at Wynn Palace in Cotai.
Leong also said that the demolition of the former CEM power station on the peninsula was in progress, adding he expected the project to be competed in 18 months time when the company would hand the “clean” plot back to the government.
Meanwhile, Leong said he expected the city’s natural gas supply to be resumed early this year. Leong did not elaborate.
According to a CEM statement, power consumption last year hit another record, rising 5.8 percent year on year to 5,255 GWh, while peak demand rose 5.6 percent to 932 MW.
The statement noted that the local power generation cost was lower than the price of imported electricity from the mainland last year, when local power generation increased 4.3 percent, accounting for 15 percent of the city’s total power consumption.
According to the statement, CEM maintained its “world-class” power supply reliability last year, with an Average Service Availability Index (ASAI) of 99.9998 percent.
According to the statement, CEM stepped up efforts to set up electric vehicle charging stations last year, pointing out that 71 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations are now available in 18 public car parks, with different charging speeds to suit different needs.
“CEM believes that it will serve the public interest by adopting more low carbon emission power generation, such as natural gas,” the statement said.
CEM is determined “to improve the security of Macau’s power supply, while at the same time to help reduce gas emission,” the statement concluded.
(Macau News / The Macau Post Daily)
