China commissioned a new section of the gas pipeline for the “Power of Siberia”

MOSCOW, 16 Sep — PRIME. China has officially put into operation another section of the pipeline for Russian gas supplied through the Power of Siberia, a section of 320 kilometers, said the press service of PipeChina, the company responsible for the project.

“The Chinese section of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline (connecting to the gas pipeline – ed.) Anping (Hebei Province) – Tai’an (Shandong Province) in eastern China was officially commissioned on September 16. This demonstrates that energy supply channels in the east of the country have become more more advanced,” the company said in a statement.

The Anping-Tai’an section is an important part of the Chinese gas pipeline, which is connected to the Russian “Power of Siberia”, its length is 320 kilometers, the capacity is 18.9 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The construction of this section of the gas pipeline began in October 2020.

“The Power of Siberia” consists of two sections – from the Chayandinskoye field in Yakutia to Blagoveshchensk (border with China) with a length of about 2200 kilometers and from the Kovykta field to Chayandinskoye – almost 800 kilometers. The first section was built in five years and launched in 2019, while the second section is scheduled to be commissioned in early 2023.

The first pipeline deliveries of gas from Russia to China – via the Power of Siberia gas pipeline – began at the end of 2019 and amounted to 4.1 billion cubic meters in 2020, and increased two and a half times in 2021. In early February 2022, Gazprom signed a second long-term contract with CNPC for export via the Far East route. The total volume of deliveries, according to it, will grow to 48 billion cubic meters annually. Taking into account the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline and its continuation through Mongolia – the Soyuz Vostok gas pipeline – gas exports to China can be increased by another 50 billion cubic meters per year.