Macao’s electricity consumption is forecast to grow by 4 to 5 percent this year, according to Benjamin Yue of Companhia de Electricidade de Macau (CEM), Macao’s sole electricity supplier.
Speaking to TDM, Yue revealed that the consumption rate last year witnessed a year-on-year rise of 9.3 percent, which he noted was mainly a result of the city’s economic recovery and growth in visitor numbers.
Much of the growth comes from the government’s use of electricity, which surged by 18.7 percent, and businesses, which used 11.6 percent more power. In contrast, household use fell by 1.2 percent in 2023.
[See more: Energia de Portugal is exiting the Macao electricity market]
Efforts are being made to reduce the use of electricity. An award ceremony was held yesterday for CEM’s latest Macau Energy Saving competition, which tasks participating buildings with saving as much energy as possible and is now in its 15th year. Organisers say that the contest has led to the saving of 380 million kWh of electricity since its inception
Among this year’s winners were a residential building that cut its electricity consumption by more than 55 percent by switching over to LED lights and motion sensor lights. The IFU Hotel, was also awarded a prize for reducing its energy usage by more than 31 percent through such means as using the heat and kinetic energy generated by its air conditioning system to produce hot water.
Despite the post-pandemic increase in electricity usage, Macao has set the goal of reaching near-zero emissions before 2050 through measures that encourage energy conservation and the use of sustainable forms of energy.
