Hong Kong LNG Terminal to be Built

According to a Reuters report, Hong Kong utility CLP Holdings Ltd. hopes to build a terminal for liquefied natural gas by 2010 to help meet a target of slashing air pollutants by up to 20 percent from 1997. CLP has not been able to fully utilize its less polluting gas-fired plant, due to a shortage in natural gas. Its Yacheng reserve in China, from which the Black Point station has received natural gas via pipelines since 1996, is being depleted earlier than expected. Once the terminal is built, natural gas should account for half of the energy sourcing in Hong Kong, said the report. Building the terminal will require $400 million to $800 million. Natural gas-fired plants have almost zero emissions of sulphur dioxide and about 30 percent less of nitrogen oxide -- both blamed for deteriorating air quality in Hong Kong. Source: Reuters