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Following is a question by the Hon Wu Chi-wai and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (June 1):
Question:
At present, high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps are widely used in the lighting systems in the vehicular tunnels in Hong Kong. On all of the occasions when the Panel on Transport of this Council discussed the replacement of the lighting system in the Kai Tak Tunnel at its meeting held on May 12 last year, and other committees discussed lighting systems in vehicular tunnels, officials from the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) said that a research on the supply and performance of light emitting diode (LED) lights available on the market (the research) had been conducted, and the findings of the research indicated that there were only a few suitable models of high-wattage LED lights available and their prices were significantly higher than those of HPS lamps, and hence EMSD would not recommend a switch to high-wattage LED lights. Moreover, officials from the Highways Department (HyD) stressed that although LED road lights had better colour rendering and higher reliability than HPS lamps, their cost-effectiveness was low as the prices of LED road lights meeting the necessary certifications (such as certifications for lighting tests as well as product safety and protection) were very high. Nonetheless, HyD commenced a trial scheme in 2009, under which a total of 171 LED road lights were installed in seven districts for performance testing (the trial scheme). The findings of the trial scheme reached the same conclusion. Regarding the lighting systems in the vehicular tunnels in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the following information of the various government vehicular tunnels: (i) the length of the tunnels, (ii) the number of HPS lamps therein, (iii) the commissioning dates of the lighting systems, (iv) the annual electricity expenditure on tunnel lighting and annual expenditure on the repair and maintenance of tunnel lighting devices in the past three years, and (v) the names of the companies responsible for the repair and maintenance of the lighting systems and the relevant contract values (set out the information by tunnel name);
(2) given that it is learnt that there have been success cases in overseas where LED lights are used for lighting in tunnels over 10 kilometres in length, but the authorities have not conducted any on-site test of the effectiveness of LED lights in vehicular tunnels so far, how the authorities have reached the conclusion that there are insufficient justifications at the present stage for supporting the use of LED lights for tunnel lighting;
(3) whether EMSD and HyD have compared the life expectancies, energy efficiencies and costs of LED lights and HPS lamps when conducting respectively the aforesaid research and trial scheme; if they have, of the outcome;
(4) whether EMSD and HyD had commissioned consultants through open tender processes when they conducted the aforesaid research and trial scheme respectively; if they had, of the relevant information, including the names of the successful bidders, the specific dates on which the consultants worked and the relevant contract values;
(5) of the latest progress of the replacement of the lighting system in the Kai Tak Tunnel, including whether the tender process has completed, the name of the successful bidder, the energy-saving requirements (e.g. the type of lights required to be used) in the contract concerned and the contract value; and
(6) given that HyD has said that it installed 54 LED lights in certain tunnels in 2015-2016, of the names of these tunnels and the installation points of these LED lights?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the various parts of the Hon Wu Chi-wai's question is as follows:
(1) The length of various government vehicular tunnels, the number of high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps therein, the commissioning dates of the lighting systems and the details of the tunnel operators are tabulated at the Annex.
At present, the electricity charges of government vehicular tunnels are borne by tunnel operators; and the responsibility of repairing and maintaining the lighting facilities of the tunnels also lies with the operators concerned. Since there are no separate electricity meters in the tunnels to record the electricity expenses for individual systems and that the repair and maintenance cost of the lighting facilities are included in the overall daily expenses of the operators without any detailed breakdown, the Government is not able to provide the annual electricity expenses on lighting of government vehicular tunnels nor any figures on the repair and maintenance expenses of individual lighting systems.
(2) The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) notes that there are tunnels in which lighting emitting diode (LED) lights are used in overseas countries such as Norway in the northern Europe. The operating environment of tunnels in overseas countries may not be similar to that in Hong Kong. The EMSD points out that the performance of LED lights varies under different operating environments, which may affect the stability and reliability of LED lights. For instance, the performance of LED lights is stable and effective under normal setting. However, given that certain spots in the vehicular tunnels of Hong Kong will likely be at a higher ambient temperature, using LED lights inside these tunnels may jeopardise safe tunnel operations. As such, the EMSD does not consider that there are sufficient grounds for determining whether it is suitable to widely use LED lights at vehicular tunnels at the present stage. To ascertain the performance of LED lights inside vehicular tunnels in Hong Kong, the EMSD will, when replacing the tunnel lighting system of the Kai Tak Tunnel (KTT), install different types of LED lights at designated locations inside KTT for evaluation purpose.
(3) The Highways Department (HyD) has been monitoring the development of new energy-saving lighting facilities and exploring their applications in Hong Kong. Since 2009, the HyD commenced a trial scheme to install low and medium-wattage LED road lights on normal roads, and has been closely monitoring the performance of an accumulative total of 171 LED road lights installed under the trial scheme in seven districts (i.e. the Eastern, Wan Chai, Kowloon City, Kwun Tong, North, Sai Kung and Sha Tin districts). The findings of the trial so far have confirmed that low and medium-wattage LED road lights had better colour rendering and higher reliability than low and medium-wattage HPS lamps (which are now widely adopted in Hong Kong), but their cost-effectiveness is relatively lower as the prices of low and medium-wattage LED road lights meeting the necessary certification (such as lighting test, safety and protection certification) are very high. Although the prices of low and medium-wattage LED road lights have dropped significantly under the latest market situation, they are still higher than those of low and medium-wattage HPS lamps. Furthermore, despite the merits of energy saving due to better colour rendering, the savings of electricity cost from using low and medium-wattage LED road lights within their expected life cannot offset the increase in cost due to their application. Therefore, at present, the cost-effectiveness of low and medium-wattage LED road lights is not significant enough to justify their common application. In light of the design and technology developments of low and medium-wattage LED road lights, the HyD will continue with the trial scheme, and closely monitor latest developments.
Regarding high-wattage LED road lights, only a few models of high-wattage LED road lights are now available in the market, and they are far more expensive than high-wattage HPS lamps. Trial of high-wattage LED road lights is therefore not considered justifiable at the moment.
Regarding the use of LED lights inside vehicular tunnels, the EMSD indicated at the meeting of the Legislative Council (LegCo) Panel on Transport on May 12, 2015 that it had gathered market information from contractors and suppliers to have a good grasp of the supply and the performance of LED lights in the market. As mentioned in part (2) of the reply above, in order to explore the feasibility of using LED lights in vehicular tunnels (including their stability and reliability), the EMSD will install LED lights of different types at designated locations inside KTT during the replacement of its tunnel lighting system for evaluation purpose.
(4) The HyD has been utilising internal resources and has not employed external consultants to conduct the study on LED road lights.
When the EMSD replaces the tunnel lighting system of KTT, the responsible contractor will also install various types of LED lights at designated locations inside KTT for evaluation purpose. The EMSD will be responsible for the evaluation work.
(5) The Government consulted the LegCo Panel on Transport on the replacement of tunnel lighting system of KTT in May 2015 and plans to apply for funding from the Finance Committee (FC) of LegCo on June 3, 2016. The EMSD has completed the preliminary site investigation works. Subject to the funding approval from FC in the second quarter of this year, the EMSD will prepare the tender documents and conduct a tender exercise for the project in early 2017, and the replacement project is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2019. The relevant contract will set out the requirements on the types of lights to be used (including the different types of LED lights to be installed at designated locations for evaluation purpose). Information on the contract value is not yet available at present.
(6) The 54 LED lights installed by the HyD in 2015-16 as mentioned in the question are installed at an underpass, not a tunnel. The two differ in length, design and the environment where they are situated, and therefore have different lighting requirements. Compared with tunnels, the lighting requirements of underpasses are relatively simple. In mid-2015, the HyD installed, as a trial, 54 LED lights at the top central part of an underpass on Wong Chu Road in Tuen Mun to replace the original aged HPS lamps.
Ends/Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Issued at HKT 15:17
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