Vegetation on slopes usually takes three to five years to grow and needs adequate watering. For slopes located at remote areas without tap water supply, irrigation would become very difficult and labour intensive.

To explore the feasibility of using solar energy to tap underground or stream water for irrigating these slopes, a trial will be conducted at Kau Shat Wan, Lantau Island, where a solar power automatic irrigation system will be installed and commissioned by the end of July.

Costing about $460,000, the trial will be launched in September and will run until March.

If the trial is successful, the Civil Engineering Department will consider using the system on a number of slopes where normal irrigation is impossible.