Wind energy in the city: Hong Kong’s offshore wind energy generation potential, deployment plans, and ecological pitfalls

Abstract

Hong Kong seeks to achieve a low carbon future by investing in renewable energy solutions. With almost all its energy demand met by imported supply, primarily from Mainland China, developing Hong Kong’s indigenous renewable energy from offshore wind offers the potential to meet the city’s low carbon ambition and, at the same time, pursue energy reliance and resilience. This paper reviews the potential for harvesting Hong Kong’s offshore wind energy to show that the territory possesses significant wind resources that can be converted into useful energy. It also discusses extant plans from its two power providers, Hong Kong Electric and China Light and Power, which signified intentions to build offshore wind farms in Hong Kong’s southern and southeastern waters, respectively. The paper also examines the impacts these infrastructures pose to marine species and ecosystems in the proposed sites. It finds that, although construction-related effects can detriment marine life in the short term, these impacts can be mitigated with careful planning and can even increase biodiversity in the site over time. The paper ends by calling for policy to be strengthened to ensure that Hong Kong’s local wind resources are exploited. Wind power development can accelerate the city’s low-carbon ambition.