Hong Kong’s Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan delivers his opening speech at the C40 Climate Action Seminar (Asian and Oceania Regions) at the AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong, Oct 27, 2023. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVT)

HONG KONG – Hong Kong will ensure that there will be sufficient charging facilities to meet the growing demand for EV charging in the territory, Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan said Wednesday.

Answering a query at the Legislative Council, Tse said the government aims to increase the number of public and private parking spaces with charging infrastructure to about 200,000 by mid-2027, as stated in the 2023 Policy Address.

Tse noted that tenders will be invited in the first quarter of 2024 for the conversion of two vacant petrol filling station sites in East Kowloon and New Territories East into quick charging stations

“With the percentage of electric private cars in newly registered PCs in Hong Kong soared from 6.3 percent in 2019 to 64.1 percent in November 2023, associated charging facilities have become indispensable,” Tse said.

He said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government has introduced a number of initiatives, including the EV-charging at Home Subsidy Scheme and granting gross floor area concessions, to substantially increase the provision of EV charging infrastructure in car parks of housing estates and newly built buildings.

"About 37,800 EV charging infrastructure have been equipped so far across the city under these two initiatives," he added.

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Tse noted that tenders will be invited in the first quarter of 2024 for the conversion of two vacant petrol filling station sites in East Kowloon and New Territories East into quick charging stations.

“With power of charger no less than 100 kilowatts, which is at least ten times higher of that of medium chargers, chargers at QCS can meet different charging needs of EVs, especially those of e-CVs (such as taxis and public light buses) for quick top-ups,” he said.

Quoting MTR Corp, Tse said 18 EV charging facilities have been installed at four of its car parks participating in the Park and Ride Scheme.

He said the government intends to liaise further with MTR Corp, which plans to provide over 200 additional EV charging facilities at its car parks before 2025.

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“With the progressive marketization of EV charging services at government car parks, we believe that more public and private organizations, such as the MTRCL, will enhance the charging services at their car parks or become charging service providers to develop EV charging networks,” he said.