Operating over 300 flood prevention and sewage treatment facilities in Hong Kong, the Drainage Services Department (DSD) is a large electricity consumer. To enable sustainable development of Hong Kong and to combat climate change, DSD has actively adopted renewable energy and energy saving elements in its new and existing facilities. The Solar Farm at Siu Ho Wan Sewage Treatment Works (SHWSTW), comprising over 4,200 polycrystalline photovoltaic (PV) panels, is the largest of its kind in Hong Kong.
Innovative
- Instead of traditional mechanical anchorage on ground, pre-fabricated concrete supports are used for PV panel installation. They are readily movable supports which allow future plant development by flexibly relocating the Solar Farm.
- An intelligent automatic detection system is in place to identify faulty PV panels promptly and effectively.
- To showcase DSD’s commitment in combating climate change, amorphous thin-film PV panels formed a highly visible collage of DSD logo in the centre of the Solar Farm Area B.
Sustainable
Having an installed generation capacity of 1,100 kilowatts, the Solar Farm can generate about 1,000,000 kWh of electricity annually, which is equivalent to about 210 households’ annual electricity consumption, thus help reducing 700 tonnes carbon dioxide emission per year.
Caring
To raise public awareness on the challenges from climate change, DSD launched different publicity, educational and promotion activities including:
- Arranging public group visits;
- Setting up exhibition panels with multimedia displays about DSD’s renewable energy application in the Monitoring Room;
- Conducting sharing with professional bodies, engineering trades and public in different seminars and forums.
