Case studies

2022

Crisis management in action during the cable bridge fire incident

On 21 June 2022, a CLP Power cable bridge in Yuen Long caught fire, affecting power supply to around 175,000 customers in Yuen Long, Tin Shui Wai and part of Tuen Mun, causing the largest blackout handled by the Company in more than a decade.

CLP Power activated its emergency incident response and power supply was first restored to essential services including hospitals and railways. With the tremendous effort of the engineering teams and emergency supply arrangement, CLP Power restored power supply to around 90% of the affected customers in around seven hours after the incident and subsequently to the remaining customers within 13 hours. The task was made more difficult as all cables inside the cable bridge had been burnt, meaning that the restoration operation was largely hands-on. Close cooperation and liaison with emergency services proved key to allowing effective handling of the operation on the ground by CLP Power's engineering teams. At Group level, a small special committee was convened to coordinate the flow of information and decision-making at Board and Government level. Immediately after the incident, an investigation panel comprising experts in power, civil and fire engineering was set up to find out the cause of the fire and make recommendations.

CLP Power maintained close communication with relevant government departments and ensured that they received all necessary support in the investigation and follow-up actions to the incident. The investigation findings were submitted to the Hong Kong Government and then communicated to the public in a timely manner. The Company also coordinated with community leaders and related organisations to provide updates, possible assistance and support to affected customers during the power interruption.