The
Hongkong Electric Co., Ltd (HK Electric) operates the Lamma Power Station (LPS)
with a number of power generating units currently in active operation, including
six coal-fired units (i.e. L2, L4 to L8), three gas-fired combined cycle gas
turbine units (CCGTs) (i.e. L9, L10 and GT57) and five oil-fired open cycle gas
turbine units (OCGTs) (i.e. GT1 to GT4, GT6).
At LPS,
there were originally seven OCGTs, GT1 to GT7, which were commissioned in the
late 80s prior to the enactment of the Environmental Impact Assessment
Ordinance (EIAO). Two of the OCGTs, namely GT5 and GT7, were later converted
into a CCGT unit (GT57) in 2002 with a total power generation capacity of 345
MW. GT57 was subsequently converted to a
gas-fired unit in 2008. A Project Profile
for the conversion and operation of GT57 was prepared for application for
permission to apply directly for an environmental permit (EP) and the
associated EP (EP-083/2000) was issued by the Environmental Protection
Department (EPD) in 2000. The other five
OCGTs, namely GT1 (55 MW) as well as GT2, GT3, GT4 and GT6 (125 MW each), are
used for peak-lopping and provide back-up power supply in case of emergencies.
GT2,
GT3, GT4, GT57 and GT6, which are located within the Gas Turbine Compound (GT
Compound) of LPS and have a total power generation capacity of 845MW, are
approaching the end of their service life.
Therefore, HK Electric proposes to decommission and demolish these units
sequentially from 2022 onwards, and to construct and commission up to four new
OCGTs with a capacity of up to 130 MW each (i.e. the proposed GT8, GT9, GT10
and GT11, with a total power generation capacity of 520 MW) within the GT
Compound (hereafter referred to as “the Project”) in order to maintain the
peak-lopping and emergency operational requirements. GT1 located outside of the GT Compound is not
included in the Project. GT1 will
continue to operate within the LPS.
The Project
is classified as a Designated Project under the EIAO (Cap. 499) as a result of
the following elements:
§ Demolition of
four existing OCGTs and one existing CCGT at LPS (Schedule 2, Part II, Item 4 A
public utility --- electricity power plant); and
§ Installation
of up to four new OCGTs at LPS (Schedule 2, Part I, Item D.1 Public utility
electricity power plant).
An
application for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Study Brief for the
Project together with a Project Profile have been submitted to the EPD by HK
Electric on 11 June 2020 in accordance with the requirements under Section
5(1)(a) of the EIAO. An EIA Study Brief
No. ESB-331/2020 (“the EIA Study Brief”) for the Project was issued by EPD on
21 July 2020.
The
purpose of this EIA study is to provide information on the nature and extent of
environmental impacts arising from the decommissioning and demolition of the
existing units (i.e. GT2, GT3, GT4, GT57 and GT6) and subsequent construction
and operation of the new units (GT8, GT9, GT10 and GT11) at the same site in
accordance with the requirements described in the EIA Study Brief. This information will contribute to decisions
by the Director of Environmental Protection on:
§ The overall
acceptability of any adverse environmental consequences that are likely to
arise as a result of the Project;
§ The
conditions and requirements for the detailed design, construction and operation
of the Project to mitigate against adverse environmental consequences wherever
practicable; and
§ The
acceptability of residual impacts after the proposed mitigation measures are
implemented.
In more
detail, the specific objectives of the EIA study defined in the EIA Study Brief
are as follows:
(i)
to describe the Project and associated works together with the
requirements and environmental benefits for carrying out the Project;
(ii)
to identify and describe the elements of the community and environment
likely to be affected by the Project and/or likely to cause adverse impacts to
the Project, including both the natural and man-made environment and the
associated environmental constraints;
(iii)
to identify and quantify emission sources and determine the significance
of impacts on sensitive receivers and potential affected uses;
(iv)
to identify and quantify potential waste management issues and impacts
arising as a result of the decommissioning, construction and operation
activities of the Project;
(v)
to identify and quantify contaminated land within any Project area for
the development works, and to propose measures to avoid off-site disposal in
the first instance;
(vi)
to propose the provision of infrastructure or mitigation measures so as
to minimise pollution, environmental disturbance and nuisance during
decommissioning, construction and operation of the Project;
(vii)
to investigate the feasibility, effectiveness and implications of the
proposed mitigation measures;
(viii) to identify, predict and evaluate
the residual environmental impacts (i.e. after practicable mitigation) and the
cumulative effects expected to arise during the decommissioning, construction,
and operation phases of the Project in relation to the sensitive receivers and
potential affected uses;
(ix)
to identify, assess and specify methods, measures and standards, to be
included in the detailed design, decommissioning, construction and operation of
the Project which are necessary to mitigate these residual environmental
impacts and cumulative effects and reduce them to acceptable levels;
(x)
to design and specify the environmental monitoring and audit (EM&A)
requirements; and
(xi)
to identify any additional studies necessary to implement the mitigation
measures of monitoring and proposals recommended in the EIA report.
The EIA
Report has been prepared in accordance with the requirements in the EIA Study
Brief and the Technical Memorandum on
Environmental Impact Assessment Process (EIAO-TM),
in order to support the application for an EP for the Project under the EIAO.
The description of the Project presented in the EIA Report has been based on
the best available information compiled by HK Electric that describes the
relevant construction activities, operational details and baseline information
describing the conditions relating to the Project and its surrounding
environment.
Following
this introductory section, the remainder of this EIA Report is organised as
follows:
Section 2 Provides a
description of the Project highlighting the decommissioning/ demolition,
construction and operational activities and the timeline for implementing the
Project, provides information on the need, purpose, objectives and benefit of
the Project, as well as consideration of alternatives for the Project. This section forms the basis of the technical
assessments presented in Sections 3 to 7 below.
Section 3 Presents the air
quality impact assessment.
Section 4 Presents the noise
impact assessment.
Section 5 Presents the water
quality impact assessment.
Section 6 Presents the waste
management implications.
Section 7 Presents the land
contamination impact assessment.
Section 8 Describes the
EM&A requirements.
Section 9 Presents the
conclusions and summarises the environmental outcomes of the EIA Study