A technical fault in the interconnection between Hong Kong’s two power providers caused a brief voltage dip on Thursday, affecting hospitals where some equipment had to be reset and resulting in about 90 reports of people trapped in lifts within a 30-minute window.
The Hospital Authority said on Thursday that the voltage dip had affected some hospitals on Hong Kong Island, requiring system resets for several medical devices.
“Each hospital immediately inspected its electrical systems, and no patient services were affected as a result,” an authority spokesman told the South China Morning Post.
He added that the cluster maintained emergency contingency plans and backup power systems, supported by regular drills and inspections to ensure a stable electricity supply and minimise the impact of any faults.
The Fire Services Department said it recorded about 90 reports of people stuck in lifts across the island between 9.23am and 9.53am. It also received 30 fire alarm reports.
HK Electric said that a 132kV switching station in North Point experienced an equipment abnormality involving an interconnection line linked to CLP Power’s grid at 9.22am.
“The incident triggered a momentary voltage dip lasting approximately 0.1 seconds before immediately returning to normal,” a spokesman said. “There was no interruption to the power supply during the period.”
The company apologised for the inconvenience caused and said engineers were following up on the incident.
CLP Power also said its power supply remained uninterrupted.
HK Electric supplies Hong Kong Island and Lamma Island, while CLP Power serves Kowloon, the New Territories and Lantau Island.
Among those trapped was the SCMP’s director of video, Chieu Luu, who was stuck for nearly an hour in a Times Square lift in Causeway Bay as he was heading to work.
“The lift suddenly dropped, which was a bit scary, and then it stalled,” Luu said. “The sign said ‘overload’, which I knew could not be true because I was the only one inside.”
Panic began to set in when his initial calls for help went unanswered.
“I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I got a little worried after I pressed the alarm and nobody answered,” he said.
“I had to press the alarm button three times before someone answered. That took about 15 minutes.”
As he waited for a response from the intercom, he messaged colleagues to alert the facilities team and quickly realised the extent of the disruption.
“They told me they were calling for help, so I knew it would be OK, so I just sat down and waited while messaging my colleagues to find out what happened,” Luu said. “Then I realised it was a much bigger problem across Hong Kong, and I wasn’t the only one stuck in a lift.”
He was freed at 10.15am after a 52-minute wait.
“I did not think it would take that long, but I was very relieved when the door was pried open,” he said.
The incident comes amid heightened public scrutiny over the reliability of the city’s power infrastructure following a series of voltage fluctuations and cable faults over the past year.
Under the current regulatory framework, utility companies can face penalties – or receive incentives – based on their restoration speed and operational reliability.
HK Electric noted that the voltage dip might affect electrical appliances, which were sensitive to voltage change, such as computers, lifts and air conditioning systems.
“After the voltage is back to normal, it may require the responsible electrical personnel to reset the affected appliances and restore them to normal operation,” the spokesman said.
The SCMP has reached out to the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department for comment. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
