Recently, Gazprom has launched its Power of Siberia-2 pipeline that is expected to pump up to 50 bcm of gas to China per year via Mongolia. Besides, Northeastern China has been consuming Russian gas via the China-Russia East pipeline since December. However, the countries have one more gas project in plans.
Moscow has started construction of the southern portion of the China-Russia gas pipeline. Once launched in 2025, the 5,111-kilometer China-Russia East natural gas pipeline will become the world's longest across-the-river pipeline construction project. It will transmit 18.9 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year from Russia to Shanghai. "The start of construction of the southern part of China-Russia East Route will further diversify natural gas sources and improve energy security in the Yangtze River Delta region. The line is expected to provide the region with 18.9 billion cub m of gas (around 30 percent of the yearly consumption of the region in 2019) when it reaches full capacity in 2025", Li Ziyue, an analyst at Bloomberg NEF, pinpointed.
The project needs special equipment amid elaborated construction levels and high environmental protection requirements. This is why China recruited for the project some technical research companies. The northern part was put into operation last year, and the middle part is projected to be completed by the end of this year.
