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Wynna Wong

Hong Kong’s largest electricity provider has apologised after a voltage dip in Sham Shui Po led to flickering or dimmed lights in some homes, with the under-fire utility vowing to investigate the latest in a string of such disruptions.
CLP Power said on Wednesday that its 11,000-volt power supply system in the district recorded a drop in voltage at 11.09pm the night before.
“During this period, some customers may have experienced lights dimming or flickering, while some may also have observed the circuit breaker in their electronics tripping due to the activation of protection devices,” the company said.
“CLP apologises for any inconvenience caused, and will investigate the cause of the incident.”
Lawmaker and engineer Chan Siu-hung, who is also an adviser to CLP Holdings, said voltage dips could be caused by a number of factors, including weather events such as lightning, thunderstorms and strong winds.
He said the latest case was unlikely to be due to ageing equipment or mismanagement.
“When lightning strikes transmission lines, it can cause a temporary voltage dip, but the power supply is usually restored within half a second,” he said.
This was why some residents saw their lights flicker, he added.
Chan said the drop in voltage could cause more sensitive equipment such as air conditioners and elevators to shut down temporarily, but the machines were likely to work again after being restarted.
“I would deem these as temporary inconveniences rather than a complete loss of power supply,” he said.
Such incidents were seen more frequently worldwide amid an increase in extreme weather events due to climate change, he said.
The disruption occurred just hours after CLP Power submitted to the government an investigation report which blamed external factors for an outage that plunged more than 2,000 Wong Tai Sin households into darkness last month.
The power company said in a public statement that cable joints had “previously been interfered with”, which caused a gradual degradation in insulation and eventually led to the two sequential faults that day.
Edward Lo Wai-chau from the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers explained that “joints” referred to the connection point between two cables, as they might not be long enough to span the entire circuit they were serving.
Asked whether the damage could have been caused by previous roadworks in the area, as earlier reported by media, Lo said such incidents were not unheard of.
“This was actually quite common, but the Electricity Supply Lines (Protection) Regulation was introduced in 2000 and such cases have dropped since then,” he said on a radio show.
The regulation imposes construction standards during roadworks to prevent damage to underground cables.

He said the question was whether third-party road workers had followed the rules under the regulation.
CLP Power found evidence of damage that was not due to regular ageing, such as joints having been chipped or bent, before it came to its conclusion, he added.
Lo suggested authorities step up patrols and inspections, with better management of third-parties needed to prevent further failures.
CLP Power, which supplies electricity to Kowloon, the New Territories and most outlying islands, logged five supply disruptions in the first four months of this year, including three voltage dip incidents that left more than 200 residents trapped in lifts.
Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan had summoned the company’s boss to request “fundamental improvements” to its culture and electricity supply management system in the wake of the power outage in Wong Tai Sin.
He also questioned whether CLP Power’s service quality was “on the decline” given the number of power disruptions in the past six months.


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Hong Kong society

Hong Kong’s under-fire CLP Power apologises after latest voltage dip hits Sham Shui Po

Some households in Sham Shui Po may have experienced lights dimming or flickering during the voltage dip, the utility has said. Photo: Edmond So

Authorities have questioned whether CLP Power’s service quality is “on the decline”. Photo: Edmond So

Hong Kong’s CLP Power blames external factors for outage affecting over 2,000 households

A power disruption in parts of Wong Tai Sin caused about 2,250 households to be plunged into darkness for about four hours last month. Photo: Handout

Hong Kong’s CLP Power ‘should prioritise’ protective devices before storm season

Hong Kong must enhance protective measures to avoid power cuts ahead of the storm season, says engineer. Photo: Dickson Lee

CLP Power stopped short of offering compensation to residents hit by two recent power outages. Photo: Edmond So

Hong Kong’s CLP Power told to weatherproof network after voltage dip blamed on thunderstorm

CLP Power has been told to install better protection for power lines against cuts caused by bad weather. Photo: Felix Wong

CLP Power has apologised for the inconvenience to residents in “individual buildings” hours after the latest incident and blamed bad weather for the problem. Photo: Edmond So

News

Hong Kong

Society

Drop in voltage occurs just hours after utility submitted report to authorities over power outage last month, blaming external factors


Drop in voltage occurs just hours after utility submitted report to authorities over power outage last month, blaming external factors.


CLP Group

Energy