Super typhoon putting our system resilience to test

Due to the large circumfluence of the typhoon and its destructiveness, its impacts on power supply facilities were more severe than expected. Power supply to some of our customers, mainly in villages and remote areas in the New Territories, was affected after many overhead power lines and poles were damaged by fallen trees.

When the typhoon had weakened and the conditions were safe, power restoration work was immediately undertaken. But our work crews faced extreme challenges such as fallen trees, flooding and landslides, which meant complicated repairs were required. In addition, many roads were blocked and some areas required sea transport to reach the affected overhead power lines. To rapidly restore power, helicopters were deployed to help assess damage and accessibility, to transport personnel, and to deliver mobile generators to enable temporary power supplies.

We should expect that the frequency and severity of such extreme weather events will increase. We are therefore allocating more resources to sharpen our emergency preparedness, aiming to maintain a reliable power supply to our customers and minimise the impact on critical services and infrastructure.