One. The Rise of LNG Community Gasification in China

If the 1980s to 1990s were the era of LPG residential gasification in China, then the first 10 to 20 years of the 21st century will be the era of LNG residential gasification in China. The origin of China's LPG residential gasification is in Shenzhen, Guangdong, and the origin of China's LNG residential gasification should be in Zibo, Shandong. The gas source for Guangdong's LPG residential gasification mainly relies on overseas imports, while the gas source for Shandong's LNG residential gasification currently mainly depends on the LNG production plant in Puyang, Henan. In the future, there will be more gas supply routes.

Yangzhai LNG Community Gasification Station, Zibo City, Shandong Province

This project is the first domestic design for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) unloading, storage, and gasification station. LNG is transported from the Zhongyuan Oilfield to the Zibo Gasification Station in低温 tank trucks.

The Zibo project commenced design in June 1999 and was completed in January 2000. The Zibo Gas Company started construction in January 2000, completed the construction in October 2000, and began trial operation with LNG. On December 2, 2001, it began supplying LNG. It is the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) gasification station in China and the largest in Asia, providing natural gas exclusively to industrial users, with a designed capacity of 120,000 Nm3/day.

Qingdao Jiaojialing LNG Residential Area Gasification Station

The Jiajingling project commenced design in June 2000 and was completed in January 2001; Qingdao Gas Company started construction in January 2001, and the facility was completed and successfully trial-operated in February 2002, becoming the first civil liquefied natural gas gasification station in China, with a design capacity of 20,000 Nm3/d.

Guangdong Longchuan LNG Residential Gasification Station Project

The Longchuan LNG gasification plant boasts a short design and construction cycle, taking less than a year from design to completion, and the dedication ceremony was held on May 23rd this year. The design capacity is 10,000 Nm3/d.

Although Longchuan's LNG currently comes from Puyang, Henan, the operator's gaze is fixed on Shenzhen. Once Shenzhen's LNG receiving station is completed, Longchuan will be the beneficiary.

The Longchuan LNG Gasification Plant project is a management general contracting project managed by Qingdao Chemical Engineering Design Institute.

In China, currently under construction and set to operate are LNG liquefaction stations in Shangqiu, Henan; Jiangyan and Chuxian, Jiangsu; Fangzi, Shandong; Suzhou, Zhejiang; Miyun, Beijing; and Bengbu, Anhui. Under planning are cities such as Yuyao, Zhejiang; Jiujiang, Jiangxi; Weifang, Shandong; Pingdu and Qingzhou; as well as Xiamen, Fujian. It is said that after completing the construction of the LNG liquefaction station in Longchuan, Guangdong, Shanghai通达Energy Co., Ltd. plans to invest in and build LNG community liquefaction stations in cities like Yangjiang, Huide, and Shanwei in Guangdong.

It appears that the recent surge in LNG community gasification in Shandong, China, far exceeds the LPG community gasification that occurred in Guangdong, China at the time. It's even faster than Japan's development pace in the 1970s. Whether in terms of construction scale, speed, organizational form, or the extent of public concern and influence, it is unparalleled by the Guangdong LPG community gasification.

Global LNG Industry Development

The primary component of natural gas is methane, a permanent gas that cannot be liquefied by compression at normal temperatures; it only becomes liquid at low temperatures (-162 degrees). Since the 1920s, with the rapid development of cryogenic industrial technology, it has become possible to liquefy large amounts of natural gas.

In 1910, the United States began industrial-scale liquefaction of natural gas. In 1917, Cabot received the first U.S. patent related to the liquefaction, storage, and transportation of natural gas. The same year, the world's first liquefied methane plant was established in the West Virginia region of the United States, where methane liquefaction production was initiated.

In 1937, Egerton from the UK proposed using liquefied natural gas (LNG) to regulate peak loads in urban gas supply. This involved liquefying and storing natural gas to meet the peak demand during winter and for emergency supply needs. The Shanghai Pudong LNG production plant, which began operation at the end of 1999 with assistance from the French company Sofirigaz Engineering, is China's first natural gas backup/peak load regulation station to adopt LNG technology, with a designed daily production capacity of 120,000 cubic meters.

In 1955, Comstock International Methane Company, USA, dedicated itself to the planning and design of cross-sea transportation for liquefied natural gas.

In 1957, British Gas decided to enter into a contract with Coniston Company to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) to supplement the city's gas supply shortages. They established the world's first LNG receiving terminal on the island of Canvey in the UK, designed for storing the imported LNG.

In 1959, Comstock International Methane Company in the United States built the world's first LNG carrier, the "Methane Pioneer," which transported 2,200 tons of liquefied natural gas from Charles Lake, Louisiana, to the Canウェll Island receiving facility in the UK from January 28th to February 20th the following year, marking the birth of the global LNG industry.

In 1960, Shell UK acquired a 40% stake in the company. The "Methane Pioneer" tanker was launched in 1964 for the LNG transport service from Algeria to the UK, rapidly boosting the global LNG commercial trade.

The burgeoning LNG community gasification trend in China is set to significantly propel the launch of China's LNG industry and the rapid development of the global LNG industry, as domestic LNG liquefaction plants continue to emerge and coastal import LNG receiving bases expand.