The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (October 16) announced its approval of the 29th batch of applications for the trials of green innovative transport technologies under the New Energy Transport Fund (the Fund), which was previously named the Pilot Green Transport Fund (PGTF).
The 10 newly approved applications are for the trials of 14 electric light goods vehicles and involve a total subsidy of about $3.2 million. The applications are from:
Ah Ngau Engineering Limited
Charm Vantage Limited
Container System Limited
Grandasy Engineering Company Limited
Guardforce Limited
Hong Kong International Terminal Limited
Sun Cheong Transportation Hong Kong Company Limited
Uni-Power Engineering Limited
W.L. Engineering (H.K.) Limited
World Wide Fund for Nature Hong Kong
The latest approval brings the total number of trials being pursued under the Fund to 193 for testing 141 electric light goods vehicles, 18 single-deck electric buses, three electric light buses, three electric taxis, one electric medium goods vehicle (tractor), 48 hybrid light goods vehicles, 27 hybrid medium goods vehicles, 20 hybrid light buses, two single-deck hybrid buses, one solar air-conditioning system for a bus, four electric inverter air conditioning systems for buses, three diesel-electric propulsion systems for ferries and one seawater scrubber for a ferry, amounting to a total subsidy of about $149 million.
At present, 136 approved trials under the Fund are already on trial. Ninety-nine of them have completed the trials, involving 51 electric light goods vehicles, nine single-deck electric buses, three electric taxis, three electric light buses, 38 hybrid light goods vehicles, 23 hybrid medium goods vehicles, 10 hybrid public light buses, two single-deck hybrid buses, one solar air-conditioning system for a bus, four electric inverter air-conditioning systems for buses, one diesel-electric propulsion system for a ferry and one seawater scrubber for a ferry. The EPD will continue to upload the trial reports once completed to the Fund's website for public information.
The Government has put in place the $300 million PGTF since March 2011 to subsidise the testing of green innovative transport technologies. To further encourage the transport sector to test and more widely use green innovative transport technologies, the Government reviewed the scope of the PGTF and injected an additional $800 million to the fund this year to extend its scope to cover Applications for Trial (AT) and Applications for Use (AU). Applications under the original scope of the PGTF are categorised as AT, while a new section, AU, is created to subsidise the transport sector and charitable/non-profit making organisations to directly procure products of technologies that have been proved under AT to be relatively mature and suitable for adoption locally. The scope of AT has also been extended to cover various commercial transport tools including goods vehicles (including special purpose vehicles), taxis, light buses, buses, vessels, motorcycles, non-road vehicles (models approved by the Transport Department or the Airport Authority), or the aforesaid transport tools of charitable/non-profit making organisations providing services to their clients. The subsidy cap for an application is increased from $9 million to $10 million, and the subsidy level for setting up a related supporting system, such as charging facilities, is raised from 50 per cent to 75 per cent. The PGTF was renamed the New Energy Transport Fund in September 2020.
The Fund is open for applications from transport operators and charitable/non-profit making organisations providing transport services to clients. The technologies to be subsidised include new energy vehicles or vessels, conversion of in-use conventional vehicles or vessels to new energy vehicles or vessels, and after-treatment emission reduction devices or fuel saving devices applicable to vehicles and vessels. Transport operators may apply for AT to try out different green innovative technology products subject to a maximum subsidy of $10 million for each application and a total of $12 million for each applicant.
For more information on the Fund and the approved applications, please visit the website of the Fund (www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/air/prob_solutions/new-energy-transport-fund.html) or call the enquiry hotline on 2824 0022.
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