Dec. 15 (NBD) -- The north section (Heihe-Changling) of China-Russia East-Route Natural Gas Pipeline starts operation Wednesday, which is expected to put into use in October 2019.

The total length of pipeline is about 3,371 kilometers, which starts from the border city Heihe of Heilongjiang Province and ends in Shanghai, spanning 9 provinces, cities and automous regions.

The natural gas pipeline is the China leg of the Russia-China natural gas pipeline, dubbed "Power of Siberia" that will provide China with natural gas under a 30-year term, with a planned annual capacity of 38 billion cubic meters.

The project has ushered in the third generation of pipeline in China which is made with X80 large OD 1422 mm line pipes with a pressure rating of 12 MPa.

According to workers of China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Co., LTD, the construction has confronted with great difficulty because the temperature can lower to 40℃ in winter. After two years of construction, the test part of the north section has been completed, generating 48 scientific achievements for future reference.

As it is outlined in the thirteenth five-year plan, natural gas should account for about 10 percent of primary energy source consumption by 2010, which means gas supplies from 2017 to 2020 should increase 15 percent each year.

In 2017, gas comsumption in China increased significantly. Statistics released by National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), show that apparent gas consumption from January to October totaled 186.5 billion cubic meters, an yearly increase of 18.7 percent.

As one of the 4 national-level enegy supply pipes, the China-Russia Natural Gas Pipeline will help improve the energy structure in North China, Beijing-Tianjing-Hebei area, and Yangtz River Delta. It's estimated that the pipeline will supply China with 38 billion cubic meters each year, an equivalent of 20 percent of gas consumption in 2016. 

Email: tanyuhan@nbd.com.cn