(Yicai) June 27 -- China’s fourth west-east gas pipeline has become fully operational, marking a major step in China’s efforts to replace coal with cleaner burning natural gas.

The 1,162-kilometer Gansu-Ningxia section commenced operations yesterday, marking completion of the pipeline, which will transport gas to central and eastern regions from western China and Central Asia. 

With an annual capacity of 15 billion cubic meters, the pipeline can replace 27 million tons of standard coal and cut carbon emissions by about 50 million tons, PipeChina, the national oil and gas pipeline group, announced yesterday.

China’s consumption of natural gas is rising quickly as the country shifts from coal to gas for cleaner energy as part of its “dual carbon” policy to achieve peak emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060.

The country’s gas usage jumped 8 percent to 426.1 billion cbm last year, according to data from the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top planning agency.

The west-to-east transmission project aims to transport the abundant gas resources of China’s western regions to eastern areas, which have enormous energy needs. The first west-east gas pipeline started operating in 2004, and the project had delivered over 980 billion cbm of gas by the end of last September, per PipeChina's data.

Construction of the fourth pipeline began in 2022. Stretching about 3,340 kilometers in total, it runs from Wuqia county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, bordering Kyrgyzstan, to the city of Zhongwei in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

When connected with the second and third pipelines, the new link will boost the entire project’s annual shipment capacity to 100 billion cbm, supplying more gas from Central Asia and Xinjiang to the Bohai Rim region, central China, and southeastern coastal areas, PipeChina said.

To accelerate pipeline construction and ensure energy security, China consolidated the pipeline assets of three state-owned energy giants into PipeChina in 2019. The company now operates over 100,000 kilometers of oil and gas pipelines, including about 57,000 kilometers of gas pipelines, according to PipeChina’s website.

Editor: Tom Litting