Coalescing Life with Lamma Power Station: Transforming a Coal Plant into a Cultural Symbol on the idyllic Hong Kong Island of Lamma
Lamma Island, known for its eclectic mix of creatives, musicians, and journalists from various nationalities, also hosts a significant piece of Hong Kong's energy infrastructure. The Lamma Power Station, operational since the early 1980s, continues to be a recognisable landmark on the island and beyond.
The power station, a 3,617-megawatt coal-fired plant, is the second largest source of climate pollution in Hong Kong after the airport. Despite this, Lamma residents, including Nick Lovatt, Mark Counsell, and Michelle Kwok, have a mixture of familiarity and indifference towards the power station.
Richard Lord, a British journalist who has lived on Lamma for over 20 years, acknowledges that people living on the island rarely complain about the power station. Jess Kwan, who lived on Lamma from 1998 until 2023, and then moved to Newcastle in the UK for political reasons, shared similar sentiments, stating that Lamma residents have grown used to the power station and appreciate its role in supplying energy to Hong Kong.
However, the gas-fired units in the Lamma Power Station have pollution filters that have cut nitrogen oxide emissions by 90%. Yet, the concentration of PM2.5 on Lamma Island is generally comparable with that on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. The only person who criticized the power plant was a man from Kowloon who lived on Lamma as a child. He claimed that the plant's biggest impact was on the water supply and the natural springs that used to produce drinkable water.
The government has not positioned any of its 18 air quality monitors on Lamma Island. This, coupled with the fact that air pollution data from IQAir is based on projections rather than observational data, raises questions about the true environmental impact of the power station.
The company operating the plant, Hongkong Electric, states that pollution from the plant has not exceeded Hong Kong environmental regulations or emissions standards. In an effort to reduce its carbon footprint, the company also tests leaf litter around the site for signs of contamination and invented a fish deterrent system that uses whale calls to limit the amount of fish that get stuck in its water intake system.
Despite these efforts, the power station's emissions are a concern for some observers. Fung argues that the Hong Kong government should be more proactive in its push for renewables in a fossil fuels-heavy energy mix. Hong Kong barely generates a single percent of its energy from renewable sources, but the government announced a plan in 2021 to increase renewables capacity to 7.5 to 10% of the energy mix by 2035, and 15% by 2050.
One renewable energy initiative on Lamma is Lamma Winds, a small wind turbine built through a partnership with non-profit Friends of the Earth. The turbine provides enough electricity to power 250 homes a year, but some observers, like Richard Lord, view it as a token gesture that has never fulfilled its potential.
A more promising source of renewable energy is offshore wind. A study in 2019 found that offshore wind could potentially generate one third of the city's electricity. In 2022, a plan to install a 600-hectare, 150-MW wind farm four kilometres southwest of Lamma emerged, but appears to have stalled.
The real shift, according to observers, is from coal to natural gas, with more nuclear following over the next quarter of a century, and a smattering of new renewables helping Hong Kong achieve its mid-century target.
As for the Lamma Power Station, its three chimneys continue to be a familiar sight for Lamma residents and visitors alike. Public buses, lorries, ferries, and other sources are more to blame for PM2.5 pollution where most Hongkongers live. Yet, the power station remains a topic of discussion, especially in the context of Hong Kong's push for a greener future.
