The Chinese section of the Eastern Russia-China Natural Gas Pipeline, one of China's key energy projects, has been fully completed and is now entering the final stage of preparation before official operation, China Oil and Gas Piping Network Corporation (PipeChina) announced on Monday.
The cross-border pipeline is a landmark project in Russia-China energy cooperation. The section in China stretches over 5,000 kilometers, from Heihe, a city in northeastern Heilongjiang Province bordering Russia, to Shanghai in east China. It is also one of China's four strategic oil and gas import channels.
In China, the pipeline construction is divided into three phases - the northern, middle, and southern sections. The recent completed section is the southern section, which spans 1,509 kilometers.
"In 2020, construction of the (Chinese) southern section of the Eastern Russia-China Natural Gas Pipeline began. By optimizing tunneling methods and using 18-meter extended pipes, we sped up progress across all segments. The entire southern section was completed seven months ahead of schedule, paving the way for the smooth connection and operation of the whole pipeline," said Cui Zong, a project manager at PipeChina.
Currently, the Eastern Russia-China Natural Gas Pipeline is being gradually put into operation in China, section by section. To date, more than 78 billion cubic meters of natural gas have been transferred through the channel.
The construction of the pipeline's southern section faced challenges due to the need to cross many large rivers and roads. To address these problems, PipeChina used advanced high-strength steel pipes and fully automated welding technology, better advancing the project in difficult natural conditions.
"Due to the complex construction conditions and the requirement for large-diameter and thick pipes, we used advanced welding technology and specialized equipment. Except for certain critical joints, which used semi-automatic methods, the entire southern section was welded using fully automated processes. All of the welds achieve a pass rate of over 98 percent on the first try," said Cui.
The Eastern Russia-China Natural Gas Pipeline is China's first to use 1,422 mm super-large diameter pipes made of X80 high-strength steel and 12 MPa high-pressure grade steel. It also uses advanced technologies like fully automated welding, automatic ultrasonic testing, and mechanized anti-corrosion patching, which have improved welding quality and construction efficiency.
Construction of China's key natural gas pipeline project completed
