The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited, trading as Towngas, is the sole provider of territory-wide town gas in Hong Kong. Founded in 1862, it is one of the oldest listed companies in the territory.
History
In February 1862, the concession to supply gas to the city of Victoria (the centre of which now referred to as Central), was obtained from then governor Sir Hercules Robinson by William Glen, a newcomer to the gas industry.[1] Incorporation took place on 3 June 1862 and, by 3 December 1864 that year, there were 15 mi of pipes and 500 gas lamps along Queen's Road and Upper Valley Road. Across the harbour, residents in Kowloon continued to rely on candles and oil lamps until gas was laid on 28 years later. The company's original generating plant, the first in Asia, stood on the waterfront at West Point near Whitty Street and provided gas for lighting to government offices and army barracks as well as Jardine's offices, the Hong Kong Dispensary and the Hong Kong Hotel. The plant was coal fired and produced 120000 ft3 of gas per day. It was run directly from Britain until 1954 when a majority shareholding was purchased by local firm Wheelock and Marden Company Limited who moved the company's registered domicile from the UK to Hong Kong.
As of 2024, the four gas lamps installed by the company are situated at the top and bottom of a flight of broad granite steps linking