Reference codeCLPTitleRecords of CLP Holdings and subsidiariesCreatorCLP Holdings and subsidiariesDate1902-2007Start date1901End date2007Level of descriptionFondsAdministrative historyOriginally incorporated in 1901 by Robert G. Shewan to supply electricity to Guangzhou, China Light and Power Syndicate, Ltd. (CLP) built its first power station in Kowloon, Hong Kong in 1903 on Chatham Road with the generating capacity of 75 kilowatts. A vertically integrated power utility at the outset, its sphere of power transmission in the earliest days was only three kilometres from the power station, servicing proximate industrial and commercial enterprises.
In 1918, the company was restructured and renamed the China Light & Power Co. Ltd., and construction began on the Hok Un Power Station, which was completed in 1921. During the 1920s and 1930s, CLP continued to expand generating capacity and supply network in Kowloon to meet the growing demand. The major market towns in New Territories including Sha Tin, Tai Po and Fan Ling was powered in the 1930s, after a supply agreement was signed between Hong Kong Government and CLP in 1929.
Elly Kadoorie, a founding shareholder of the company, became a major shareholder in 1928. His son Lawrence who joined the board in 1930 would subsequently become the company’s chairman in 1936.
During World War Two, the company’s assets were seized by the Japanese, and its power station supplied electricity to both Kowloon and Hong Kong. In the post-war years and under the chairmanship of Lawrence Kadoorie, CLP powered Hong Kong’s post-war manufacturing boom and supplied electricity to the remotest parts of the New Territories under the 1961 Rural Electrification Scheme. In 1964, the company went into partnership in the generation business with ExxonMobil. The first Scheme of Control Agreement was signed in the same year, providing a regulatory framework for the government to monitor its operating performance and financial affairs.
Towards the end of the 1970s CLP began a major overhaul of its generation and transmission infrastructure – the construction of Castle Peak Power Station and Extra High Voltage (400kV) Transmission Network. Following the Open Door Policy of Mainland China, CLP began to supply electricity to Guangdong Province in 1979 after a power interconnection agreement was reached with the Guangdong power grid. In 1985, the Guangdong Nuclear Power Joint Venture Company Limited was established to build a nuclear power station in Daya Bay, commissioned in 1994.
In the mid-1980s, dedicated Customer Service began to enhance customer experience, forming a core function of the company.
Following a company reorganisation in 1998 for overseas expansion, CLP Holdings Limited was formed, replacing China Light and Power Company Limited as the listed company in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The Hong Kong business came under CLP Power Hong Kong Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CLP Holdings Limited.
In 2014, CLP collaborated with China Southern Power Grid to acquire ExxonMobil’s 60% interest in the generation business. Nowadays CLP's gross capacity totals 8,268 megawatts, managing 16,600 kilometres of transmission and distribution lines and supplying 80% of Hong Kong’s population.
