It spans from west to east, north to south, connects overseas, and stretches for thousands of miles, weaving the energy artery that runs through China;
It will transport clean energy to the land of China through stations, lighting up thousands of lights and ushering in a new era of using clean energy in our country.
This is the West East Gas Pipeline Project.
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that energy security is related to the overall economic and social development of China and is one of the most important security concerns.
As a major energy artery, the West East Gas Pipeline Project has effectively supported the construction of a new energy system and ensured national energy security.
The Century Project, which has attracted worldwide attention
On the eve of National Day, with the opening of the No. 318 intake valve at the Turpan Liaison Compressor Station, natural gas from Central Asia and Tarim Oilfield in China entered the West East Gas Pipeline 4 through the station, marking the completion and operation of the first section of the West East Gas Pipeline 4 project.
Currently, the West East Gas Pipeline Project consists of the first, second, third, and fourth lines of the West East Gas Pipeline.
In February 2000, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council made a major decision to launch the West East Gas Pipeline Project, which marked the beginning of the "Western Development" campaign.
The first line of West East Gas Pipeline started construction in July 2002 and was completed and put into operation in October 2004. The main line starts from Tarim Oilfield in Xinjiang in the west, crosses 9 provinces in the east and west, with a total length of about 4200 kilometers, and finally reaches Shanghai.
Liu Haichun, Deputy General Manager of the Engineering Department of the National Pipeline Network Group, stated that the transportation method used for the West East Gas Pipeline is pipeline transportation, which crosses various terrains and climatic environments such as Gobi, deserts, and plateaus along the way, making the construction difficulty rare in the world. Engineers construct compressor stations at intervals to filter and boost natural gas, and the boosted natural gas is directly delivered to users through gas pipelines.
Therefore, after the completion of the West East Gas Pipeline, it became the longest distance, largest diameter, highest pressure, most complex construction conditions, and strongest transportation capacity gas pipeline project in China at that time.
With the increasing demand for natural gas, the Second West East Gas Pipeline was launched in 2007 and put into operation in 2011. Starting from Khorgos in Xinjiang in the west, it will deliver the gas from the Central Asia gas pipeline to central and southern China.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the construction of the West East Gas Pipeline Project has further accelerated. In 2012, the eastern and western sections of the West East Gas Pipeline 3 started construction one after another, achieving independent engineering technology and domestic technical equipment. After completion, it was connected to the first and second lines, realizing a leapfrog development from pipeline gas transmission to pipeline network gas transmission.
Qi Jianhua, General Manager of the Engineering Department of the National Pipeline Network Group, said that during the 14th Five Year Plan period, China will build more than 20000 kilometers of trunk natural gas pipelines, which will drive the formation of a new pattern of trunk pipeline networks in the northwest, southwest, northeast, and offshore regions, consisting of four strategic channels and five vertical and five horizontal routes.
Accumulatively transported over 980 billion cubic meters of natural gas
Natural gas is considered a clean energy source. As of the end of September this year, the West East Gas Pipeline Project has transported over 980 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
This also marks the further optimization and upgrading of China's energy structure, the accelerated promotion of green and low-carbon transformation in key industries and fields, and the continuous supply of low-carbon, clean, and efficient natural gas to empower the beautiful China.
Currently, the West East Gas Pipeline system covers more than 400 cities and over 3000 large and medium-sized enterprises in western China, the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, and central China, benefiting nearly 500 million people.
At the largest natural gas hub station in Asia - Ningxia Zhongwei Liaison Compressor Station, the first, second, and third lines of the West East Gas Pipeline converge here. Since the beginning of this year, the daily gas transmission capacity of the station has exceeded 180 million cubic meters.
At the beginning of the construction of the West East Gas Pipeline Project, the proportion of natural gas in China's energy consumption structure was only about 2.4%; After the West East Gas Pipeline is put into operation, by the end of 2023, natural gas will account for 8.5% of China's energy consumption structure.
Yang An, Deputy General Manager of the Marketing Department of the National Pipeline Network Group, stated that currently, the annual network connection volume of China's trunk natural gas pipeline network is about 240 billion cubic meters, with the West East Gas Pipeline Project accounting for about 40% of the total gas transmission volume. This is of great significance for promoting the transformation of energy structure, driving the development of domestic gas resources, increasing the network connection volume of imported gas, and utilizing downstream clean energy.
The initial formation of a "national network" for natural gas
Before the start of the West East Gas Pipeline Project, China had only built 12000 kilometers of gas pipelines, with an annual gas transmission capacity of less than 20 billion cubic meters. The pipelines were mainly regional and scattered, with only the Shaanxi Beijing line crossing provinces. The pipeline diameter was small, the pressure level was low, and it had not yet been in line with international standards.
The West East Gas Pipeline Project has opened the prelude to the large-scale development of China's natural gas pipelines. With the completion of the second and third line of the West East Gas Pipeline (Khorgos Zhongwei) and other pipelines, China has realized the introduction of natural gas resources from abroad through long-distance pipelines.
Yang An said that this also means that the West East Gas Pipeline has risen from a single pipeline to a gas transmission system, and the transformation from "line" to "network" has formed the energy artery of "Gasification China", making the gas consumption of users in the central and eastern regions of China more efficient and flexible.
Data shows that by the end of 2023, the total length of natural gas pipelines in service in China will be about 57000 kilometers, covering 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities.
Tian Zhongshan, General Manager of the Marketing Department of the National Pipeline Network Group, stated that with the further improvement of the interconnectivity of the West East Gas Pipeline Project, upstream supply entities will become more diversified, and downstream market competition will be more intense. From opening up the "arteries" to unblocking the "capillaries", strengthening the fair and open energy pipeline network remains a key focus for the future of the energy sector