Hong Kong's AI data center boom collides with its fossil-heavy grid: green power pathway needed

Hong Kong is betting big on AI, with AI-related IPOs raising nearly HK$100 billion and new data centers like Sandy Ridge planned. But the city's grid still runs about two-thirds on fossil fuels, and a UN study ranked its data centers third-worst globally for carbon intensity at 604 g CO2/kWh. The article argues Sandy Ridge should open with a minimum share of zero-carbon power and a published schedule for raising it. That would require new cross-border electricity deals with the mainland grid, plus mutual recognition of green certificates so international auditors accept the credentials. It also calls for a central emissions disclosure platform for government bureaus, and says Hong Kong should focus on hydrogen certification and testing rather than trying to make hydrogen buses work. The 2033 expiry of the city's power agreements is the window to fix the institutional plumbing.