Seasonal variations in residential and commercial sector electricity consumption in Hong Kong

We present the energy use situation in Hong Kong from 1979 to 2006. The primary energy requirement (PER) nearly tripled during the 28-year period, rising from 195,405 to 566,685 TJ, about two-third of which was used for electricity generation. The residential and commercial sectors are the two largest electricity end-users with an average annual growth rate of 5.9% and 7.4%, respectively. The monthly consumption in these two sectors shows distinct seasonal variations mainly due to changes in the air-conditioning requirements, which are affected by the prevailing weather conditions. Principal component analysis of five major climatic variables—dry-bulb temperature, wet-bulb temperature, global solar radiation, clearness index and wind speed—was conducted. Measured sector-wide electricity consumption was correlated with the corresponding two principal components determined using multiple regression technique. The regression models could give a very good indication of the annual electricity use (largely within a few percents), but individual monthly estimation could differ by up to 24%. It was also found that the climatic indicators determined appeared to show a slight increasing trend during the 28-year period indicating a subtle, but gradual change of climatic conditions that might affect future air-conditioning requirements.