Managing Director of CLP Power Hong Kong Joseph Law Ka-chun is on the show this week. He is here to explain how CLP is preparing for climate risks and what investments they’re making in clean and reliable energy.

Check out the full transcript of TVB’s Straight Talk host Dr Eugene Chan’s interview with Joseph Law:

Chan: Good evening, I’m Eugene Chan, and welcome to Straight Talk. Our guest is Joseph Law, the managing director of CLP Power Hong Kong. Law is both a CPA and a chartered financial analyst, and has been with CLP for over 20 years, holding senior roles across finance, fuel procurement, renewable energy, and operations. He was their chief operating officer and then managing director of CLP Mainland. This evening, we’ll talk about how CLP is preparing for climate risks and what investments they’re making in clean and reliable energy. Welcome, Joseph, to the show!

Law: Thank you, Eugene, for having me on the show!

Extreme weather events

Chan: Right, Joseph, you know, over the past year, Hong Kong has had one of the most extreme weather events in our history. Less than 12 months ago, in September, we were hit by the heaviest rainfall in nearly 140 years, with over 158 mm falling in just one hour during that black rainstorm. And then earlier this summer, we recorded one of the hottest Julys with temperatures topping 35 degrees Celsius for multiple days. And of course, everybody will still remember clearly that we just had our heaviest August rainfall since 1884 and had a record of four black rain alerts in eight days, with hospital clinics, schools, and courts shut all across the city. So, when extreme weather hits, I think a reliable power source is very important, I will use the word critical, to keep our homes cool, hospitals running, and a transport system moving. Actually, in short, electricity is the backbone of our society. So, maybe you are the best person to tell us. With last week's black rainstorm, did it put any unusual strain on the system?

Law: Yes, Eugene, I think everybody can see that extreme weather is becoming more frequent and more severe, impacting our society on all fronts. Now, for the electricity supply, they do have an impact on us, and we do need to put in proactive measures to make sure that we are prepared. So, despite having the No. 10 Typhoon Wipha several weeks ago, as well as the record black rain days last week, CLP's electricity supply basically remained intact, and supplies and service to customers were generally on track. Now, this doesn't come naturally. We have to do a range of preparation measures in the face of climate change.

Now, if you think about climate change, there are a few areas that we need to think about and prepare for. One is lightning. The others are strong winds. Our third area is in the area of flooding. So, for lightning, we do have to proactively put in measures, put in lightning arrestors in our transmission towers to prevent and mitigate the impact of lightning to the electricity supply. In the area of strong wind, we have reinforced our, for example, transmission towers, so that they can withstand strong winds of up to 300 kilometers per hour. And in the areas of flooding, we would do a model to assess where the higher-risk assets and substations are and install floodgates to prevent water from impacting our electricity supply.

Chan: Joseph, thank you for reassuring all the viewers that, I mean, the power supply companies are doing different things to combat all the different scenarios. But I must ask you, were there any close calls during the recent black rain? I mean, I wasn’t in Hong Kong, but I was watching all the clips. It's quite an amazing scene of heavy water flooding everywhere. Were there any close calls? We have to do advanced planning and preparation for any such extreme events. Did you anticipate that it was going to be that bad?

Law: We have to anticipate that, and we have to put in the right measures in place. We also work with government departments to conduct drills so that we are better prepared in not only mitigating the potential impact, but also, if any of our systems are affected, we can recover and get the electricity supply back for customers in the shortest possible time.

Chan: I'm sure the viewers and, I mean, like you and I, we feel that Hong Kong's or even the world's weather has changed a lot. Would you call this a new normal?

Law: I would say we should anticipate that extreme weather in terms of frequency and severity will be more in the future.

Chan: Right. You know, CLP supplies electricity to 80 percent of Hong Kong households because you supply Kowloon and the New Territories. How do you ensure this reliability? Because it's very important, as I said earlier, the courts have to keep going, the hospital clinics have to run, even transport systems, I mean, how can you ensure that this is going to be operating all the time, because it can be very critical.

Law: Yes. We have to work with the government and customers to prepare for more extreme events. We have to design our system, we have to make the appropriate investments to make sure that we are resilient in the face of climate change. And it's not just our electricity system. We also have to work very closely with government and the customers, because the customers, in terms of their own buildings, they have to make sure their buildings are also resilient to climate as well, because if the flood comes and it affects customer equipment, then it would affect the end supply to electricity customers living in that building as well.

Chan: Since you mentioned about those structures, I'm sure people will read in the news that the recent power outage at Yi Fung Mansion in To Kwa Wan actually has a very similar issue because of its aging infrastructure, and the actual vulnerability to severe weather. So, how can you actually help them? Although you supply the power source to them, it may not be your full responsibility, but in the end of the day, the residents there is going to come up and start complaining. So, how do you make sure this doesn't happen as much as what we saw?

Law: Yes, I think this can demonstrate that building owners have a big part to play in order to make sure their buildings are upkept properly, and they're maintained properly, to make sure all the public facilities within the building, they need to work properly, even in the face of climate change. So, in the event of customer equipment faults, we also try to lend a hand. We provide technical advice and we work with the rail operator and government departments, as well as the building owners and their electrical contractors, to help them to see how to get the electricity supply or other necessary equipment back online as fast as possible.

Chan: Right. So, I think, the viewers should take note of this and make sure their corporate owners committee will follow closely on their own buildings and infrastructures. As we said about climate change, I'm sure everybody will agree that Hong Kong is getting warmer and warmer, and we're having our air conditioners on longer and longer. Does CLP … would you be able to cope with this increase in demand?

Law: Yes. We do a long-term planning to anticipate what the future demand would be, and we will put in the right resources to make sure that that demand is met.

Chan: Right. I mean, the title of the show tonight is whether Hong Kong will be able to deal with extreme weather, as we said, powering through with the actual black rain. I'm just asking on this scenario basis: is there any possibility in Hong Kong that during a major storm or heatwave, we could see rolling blackouts or power rationing? What that means is in one area, you’d have to stop electricity for a while so that there’d be electricity in another area. Could this happen?

Law: Well, I think as the major electricity provider, we work very closely with all parties to make sure that the city as a whole is prepared so that we do not have to face blackouts or outages like this. So, we make the appropriate preparation. We have to put in the appropriate resilient measures so that the city can continue to function normally even in the face of extreme weather.

Chan: Right. So, we must remember that's always a possibility. I mean, we can't take things for granted. That's what you're trying to say to us, isn't it?

Law: Well, I think we all have a part to play, right? Climate change is not something that any single party can deal with. The whole society, the government, the companies, and even consumers. We need to make sure that we mitigate climate change to the best effort we can. And we also put in the resilient measures to adapt in the world that if climate change comes, and when it becomes more frequent, how do we operate and function normally through that?

Sustainability & Climate Strategy

Chan: Right. One thing that you've been discussing all along, I'm sure we know that with all this extreme weather, the root cause is climate change, and the term decarbonization is the key; that's the reason why we have to do decarbonization. Many people have heard of the Paris Agreement, which limits global temperature rises to well below 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial levels. But progress in different parts of the world is uneven. As you know, many countries are falling short of their pledges. Maybe after the break, you can tell us more about how Hong Kong and our country deal with this at the moment. Alright. So, let's have a break now, and we will be right back with more Straight Talk.

Chan: Thank you for staying with us. Joseph Law, the managing director of CLP Power Hong Kong, is with us, and we have been talking about Hong Kong's extreme weather events and strategies for decarbonization. So, Joseph, before the break, I just touched on the Paris Agreement, which shows everybody is concerned about climate change. They want to keep the temperature rises to well within 2 degrees Celsius, and we know the whole world is working on that. So, can you tell the viewers what we are doing in Hong Kong and the mainland, because this is our region? And what can you anticipate? What if we can't control that?

Law: Well, I think China and Hong Kong have been very clear about the fact that we need to address climate change, and China is actually a leader in terms of addressing climate change. For example, China has announced a very clear 2030-2060 goal, so China as a country will peak its carbon emissions by the year 2030, and then carbon emissions are expected to go down. And then by the year 2060, it is expected to reach a net-zero emission status.

Now, for Hong Kong, we are also part of China, we, actually being a relatively more advanced city, we actually set a more aggressive target. So, the Hong Kong government has set out in its Climate Action Plan 2050. What we in Hong Kong target to do is that by the year 2035, we would cut our carbon emissions by half as a city. And then by 2050, as a city, we would achieve a net-zero status. So, there are a number of different strategies and implementations that are actually ongoing. So for example, in China, there are two main areas in order to push forward, in terms of decarbonization. One is in the area of renewable energy development, the other is in the area of nuclear energy development. Both are zero-carbon sources. So, for renewable energy, in 2024, China's renewable energy capacity installation is over 370 gigawatts. That represents over 60 percent of the world's installation of renewable energy. That is the amount of effort that the country is putting in, in terms of renewable energy. On nuclear, China also has a very successful and large nuclear development program. The currently installed and under-construction capacity is over 120 gigawatts, which makes it one of the largest and fastest nuclear development programs in the world.

Chan: Right. Since you mentioned the terms “renewable energy” and also “nuclear”, there are alternative forms of, I mean, sort of fossil fuel-based sort of production of energy. What exactly is renewable energy? Maybe you need to clarify to the viewers.

Law: Yes. Renewable energy can be generally defined as any energy form that cannot be exhausted. So, they are typically energy sources, like solar energy or wind energy, which is where the majority of China's renewable energy development is focused.

Chan: Right. Earlier, we talked about renewable energy and nuclear energy, you talked about fossil fuel, the carbon-based energy. That is about, as you know, the electricity generation in Hong Kong comprises 60 percent of the city's total carbon emissions. Being the largest provider, how do you actually reduce it? I mean, I know that we peaked in 2014, and then we are trying to cut half by 2035. What exactly have you done to have this good result?

Law: Yes. CLP has been tackling the issue of decarbonization for decades. So, we have started; we were the first to introduce zero-carbon nuclear energy to Hong Kong. We were also the first to bring low-carbon natural gas fire generation to Hong Kong. And going forward, I think we can see that there are three key stages for Hong Kong's roadmap to decarbonization. The first stage we have actually just completed is to reduce the use of coal in our generation as a fuel and increase the use of natural gas. So, today, we have over 50 percent of CLP's fuel mix is actually from natural gas. It is the lowest form of fossil fuel in terms of carbon emissions. The second stage, which is what we need to achieve by 2035, is to have access to increased zero-carbon nuclear energy or renewable energy from the mainland to Hong Kong, so that we can phase out the use of coal. And by 2050, we anticipate that we will achieve a net-zero portfolio, generation portfolio, either through the use of hydrogen, green hydrogen, or carbon capture and storage.

Chan: Right. Since you mentioned hydrogen, how promising is this fuel? Is it cost-effective?

Law: I think hydrogen, it is a fuel that it's technically proven. If the source of the hydrogen is green, then it is a good fuel that can be used in the future. Now there are two challenges with hydrogen right now. The first is that the majority of the hydrogen that is produced in the world today is grey hydrogen. They are actually formed using fossil fuels. So, they actually do not help tackle climate change.

Chan: Right.

Law: So, what we need to do is we need to have most of the hydrogen in the world made by green hydrogen in the form of green hydrogen. That means zero-carbon energy as a fuel to create that green hydrogen. That is the first challenge. The second challenge is in the area of maturity in terms of the supply chain, as hydrogen is a scientifically a rather difficult form of substance to store and transport. So, we need the supply chain to actually become more mature to have new technology so that we can do the storage and the transportation in a cost-effective way.

HK’s energy consumption

Chan: Right. Joseph, thank you for explaining the different fuel alternatives we have, like renewable energy, nuclear and even hydrogen. Let's go back to the Hong Kong market itself. We talked about 60 percent of the electricity generation, but I saw that actually transportation is the actual second largest source of carbon emissions, accounting up to 20 percent. So, how can we reduce that?

Law: Yes I think there is a great opportunity here because as the power sector reduces its carbon, we can actually help the transport sector reduce carbon as well. And that is through the form of electrification of transport. So, if the transport industry's fuel that propels it becomes electricity, and as electricity becomes low carbon, then the carbon emissions of the transport sector would be significantly reduced. And you can see that already happening in the area of electric vehicles, right? In Hong Kong, as you know, around 70 percent of Hong Kong's new private vehicle sales are electric vehicles, right? So, this is a major achievement. And that can help reduce carbon in Hong Kong for private vehicles. And but then private vehicles as you know only one segment, right? There are other segments, such as commercial vehicles, I said we also need to electrify, right? CLP has been putting in measures to put to help the transport industry to electrify both on the private car side as well as on the commercial vehicle side.

Chan: Right. Joseph, since you mentioned the word EV, I mean, all we know that there are a lot of EVs running on the road, we have an expanded range of models and brands. But that will be putting a strain on your system again because more people are using power. So, how do you mitigate that?

Law: Electric vehicles, although they do represent an increase in the form of electrical energy use, they are quite efficient. So, as a whole, even if we electrify the whole transport sector, it is not going to have a major impact on the electricity system.

Chan: Right. So, we mentioned both EVs we talked about your carbon emissions of making electricity. How about households? I am sure the viewers want some tips from you directly. How do they reduce energy use while helping to contribute to the climate change issue in Hong Kong?

Law: Yes, that is a very good question, Eugene. Now, each individual customer, whether a commercial customer or a household customer, can do their part in improving their own energy efficiency. For example, CLP has been implementing smart meters for all our customers, and what that does for the customer is that on their mobile on their handset app, they can see how much electricity they use on an hourly basis on a daily basis. They can have unusual consumption alerts, right? And they can have projected energ,y and they can compare with their neighbors how energy efficient they are. So, CLP is helping to inform and educate our customers so that they can better understand their own use and reduce and become more energy efficient.

Chan: I must ask you a direct question in Straight Talk. I am sure the viewers will say why would CLP help them to reduce their energy bills? It goes directly against the interests of CLP. How do you answer that?

Law: I think a core value of CLP is actually to care for the environment. So, we have been serving Hong Kong for over 120 years, and we deeply believe that caring for the environment and caring for our community are part of our core values. So, this is how we conduct our business over the long term.

Chan: Right. Joseph, I am afraid we have to leave it there. And thank you for sharing CLP's vision and challenges in this complex area. Powering through black rain is about more than just keeping the lights on. It is about building a future that is sustainable for a greener and safer Hong Kong.

As Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, said, “Climate change is a defining issue of our time and we are at the defining moment.” Thank you for joining us on Straight Talk and have a good evening.