Extreme situations call for extreme solutions – particularly when the world is in the grip of a devastating pandemic and lives depends upon fast, decisive action.

So, when the Hong Kong government created a quarantine centre to stop the spread of the disease, CLP Power rose to the challenge and provided the technical expertise to make it possible in record time.

Built on a stretch of barren land on Lantau Island, the Penny’s Bay Quarantine Centre was connected to the power grid in around two months thanks to the extraordinary efforts of a team of dedicated CLP Power engineers.

The first two phases of the facility, providing a total of 1,500 quarantine units, were completed in July and September 2020, giving engineers a matter of just weeks in each case to provide a power supply to what had previously been undeveloped land without any power or basic infrastructure.

“I’ve been an engineer for more than 30 years, and I have never seen a major power supply project completed in such a short period of time,” says CLP Power engineer Wong Shu Tong with a sense of wonder. Click on the video to hear him speak about his project experience.

Wong was responsible for building the electricity supply network and worked closely with another CLP Power engineer, Chan Ting Kwok, who was given the responsibility for network planning.

“This is the first time Hong Kong has built a quarantine centre of this size in such a short period of time,” explains Chan. “We had few points of reference to estimate the electricity load demand required for this purpose.”

The remote location made the task even more daunting. But despite the immense challenges, the CLP Power team succeeded in their mission before moving on to build the power supply for the third and fourth phases of the quarantine centre.

Reflecting on their achievement, Wong and Chan say there were three key elements that helped them succeed with what at first seemed like a Mission Impossible: