Victoria Harbour gets weather station powered by solar and wind energy

The Automatic Weather Station at Green Island, off the northwestern corner of Hong Kong Island, is the first weather station in Victoria Harbour to be powered by both solar and wind energy.

Green Island is located near the urban area, less than 500 metres from Kennedy Town. Being separated by the Sulphur Channel, the island is unaffected by urbanisation. From the early 20th Century to the 1990s, it served as a Tropical Cyclone and Monsoon Signal Warning Station for vessels travelling in and out of the harbour.

The Marine Department started collecting wind direction and wind speed data from the island in the mid-20th Century. In 1989, the observatory established an automatic weather station on the island to replace manual measurements and the data was transmitted to the observatory's headquarters automatically.

Currently, wind information from Green Island is broadcast via radio during weekends and on public holidays for use by water sports enthusiasts.

The observatory has been using solar energy to operate automatic weather stations in remote areas since the 1980s and has implemented wind energy as a supplement in the past few years. This will ensure a stable supply of electricity to the station during periods of cloudy weather with little sunshine.

Mr Edwin Ginn, the observatory's Senior Scientific Officer said, "The Green Island Automatic Weather Station, powered by both solar and wind energy, is the first of its kind in Victoria Harbour. The observatory will continue to apply the best available technology to protect and conserve the environment."

For weather information of Green Island, please visit the "Regional Weather" webpage:
http://www.weather.gov.hk/wxinfo/ts/index_wind_e.htm or PDA webpage: http://pda.weather.gov.hk/windehk.htm.

Mr. Edwin Ginn, Senior Scientific Officer of the Hong Kong Observatory, introduced to the media the application of renewable energy at the Green Island Automatic Weather Station.

The Green Island Automatic Weather Station