Director & General Manager (Engineering), Mr. Francis Lee, receives the Green Innovative Practice Grand Award from the Permanent Secretary for the Environment and Director of Environmental Protection, Ms Anissa Wong, at the 2006 Eco-Business Awards Presentation Ceremony. General Manager (Transmission and Distribution), Mr. Yuen Sui-see (back row, second from left), and General Manager (Generation), Mr. Francis Cheng (middle of back row), picture with officiating guests after receiving the Certificate of Merit Awards.  Engineers of HK Electric conduct routine inspection on oil-free equipment.

Director & General Manager (Engineering), Mr. Francis Lee, receives the Green Innovative Practice Grand Award from the Permanent Secretary for the Environment and Director of Environmental Protection, Ms Anissa Wong, at the 2006 Eco-Business Awards Presentation Ceremony. General Manager (Transmission and Distribution), Mr. Yuen Sui-see (back row, second from left), and General Manager (Generation), Mr. Francis Cheng (middle of back row), picture with officiating guests after receiving the Certificate of Merit Awards. Engineers of HK Electric conduct routine inspection on oil-free equipment.

HK Electric places great emphasis on ensuring a safe and reliable power supply to customers and is also committed to meeting the rising environmental standards for power supply operations. The outstanding performance of the Company was fully recognised in the Eco-Business Awards 2006 where it swept three major awards, including the prestigious Grand Award in the Green Innovative Practice category.

The Grand Award winning initiative involves the use of oil-free technology which adopts vacuum, air or gas in place of conventional oil as the insulation medium for transmission and distribution equipment.

While the technology enhances safety performance of substation facilities by reducing potential fire hazards, oil-free equipment is considered cost-effective and environmentally friendly as it eliminates routine oil treatment and subsequent disposal of waste oil.

Speaking after the Eco-Business Awards Presentation Ceremony, the Director and General Manager (Engineering) of HK Electric, Mr. Francis Lee, said, "The switch to oil-free equipment eliminates the use and handling of more than 4 million litres of insulation oil, which can be used to fill up fuel tanks of about 66,000 cars."

"Ozone-depleting BTM or carbon dioxide emissions are also reduced as gaseous fire protection systems are no longer required. About 12 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions are reduced annually on average and the effect can be likened to planting a tree in each of our substations," Mr. Lee said.

Since the 1970s, the technology has progressively been applied to the transmission and distribution system and to date, all high voltage switchgear and over 94% of the transformers in the 3,600 plus substations are oil-free. Adjudicators of the Eco-Business Awards 2006 praised HK Electric for its "forward-looking vision" by bringing the technology into its operations.

"The award is a tribute to HK Electric employees for their ingenuity and teamwork, and recognition of the green corporate culture," said Mr. Lee. "We are committed to providing safe and reliable power supply for our customers, while we will also adopt the best practicable environmental technologies to minimise the impact on the environment."

Jointly organised by the Environmental Protection Department, the Environmental Campaign Committee (ECC), the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and Hong Kong Productivity Council in 1999, the Hong Kong Eco-Business Awards aims at enhancing public awareness on environmental protection, and providing recognition to local companies for their exceptional commitment and achievement in environmental management.

Two other green initiatives - the innovative micro-excavation technique adopted for fault location of underground cables and the smart use of wastewater/rainwater scheme at Lamma Power Station – received Certificate of Merit Awards at the ceremony for their outstanding environmental performance.