Electricity tariffs to remain stable ‘or even decrease’

Bernie Leong

Macau’s electricity tariffs are likely to remain stable or even register a small decrease as of next month, according to the chairman of CEM’s executive committee, Mr Bernie Leong.
Speaking on the sidelines of CEM’s Spring lunch with the media, Mr Leong said that “because of the overall importation price, we are not expecting a big change. They will remain more or less like what they are now.” In addition, he recalled that since “the oil market is quite stable now, and even recording a decrease over the previous year, we expect that we could keep our tariffs quite stable or even [record] a reasonably small decrease.”
Mr Leong stressed that CEM is committed to increasing local energy production, provided that the oil price remains stable, particularly by focusing on natural gas production. “This is our target; we [will] try this year to produce more of our own energy,” he stated.
He acknowledged, however, that Macau’s energy generation capacity is somehow limited, because there’s a need to replace outdated equipment and infrastructure. Currently, about 88 percent of Macau’s energy is still being imported from mainland China.
Looking to take advantage of a “relatively low oil price situation” to increase local energy production, CEM is discussing with the Macau government the possibility of replacing old generation capacity with “new modern, state-of-the-art and also environmentally friendly technology to produce energy.”
According to Mr Leong, in this case, natural gas is the best source of fuel. As a new government lineup took office last year, he believes that this is the right momentum needed to re-launch discussions on this matter.
“We are working on a proposal to submit to the government. In due time, we will make an announcement, but we will try [to submit it] during the first half of this year,” he revealed.
As a more environmentally friendly energy source, natural gas would benefit all Macau citizens. “I would say it would [reach] all Macau people,” said Mr Leong, stressing that “all Macau people could benefit [from natural gas], because at the end of the day this kind of technology, paired with the reasonable price of the natural gas, could produce relatively economic energy in Macau.”
If it moves forward with the natural gas project, CEM foresees a MOP1.7b
investment budget.
Meanwhile, CEM submitted its annual development plan, which is valued at MOP1 billion, to the authorities. “This MOP1 billion will be invested in our transmission and distribution network, which is, of course, [intended] to cope with an increasing power demand from our customers,” said Mr Leong.
Last February, Coloane residents raised concerns over the black smoke being emitted from CEM’s Coloane Power Station, but company representatives had said that emission levels meet both EU and Macau SAR guidelines and standards. Yesterday, Mr Leong reiterated, “CEM is complying with Macau government regulations, as well as EU guidelines, for this kind of technology.” Nevertheless, he acknowledged that “we still have room for improvement, so we are trying to make sure that emissions are as low as possible, and that the visual impact should also be minimized as much as possible.”
As the next wave of casino resorts takes shape in the Cotai Strip, Mr Leong also forecasts a five-percent increase in energy consumption this year.