LNG

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French LNG storage technology company, has completed the construction of two full containment tanks for the new Nangang LNG import terminal being constructed by the parent company of Beijing Gas Group at Tianjin port in northeast China.

GTT’s order was received from its partner company, China Huanqiu Contracting and Engineering Co. (HQCEC), for the design of eight very large storage tanks each with a capacity of 220,000 cubic metres.

“They are the world's largest onshore LNG storage tanks incorporating the GST® membrane containment technology,” said GTT.

The Paris-based company said the construction schedule remained on track despite the constraints imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

GTT added that the two onshore tanks were now entering the commissioning phase and would be operational in the first half of 2023.

The new Tianjin-Nangang project comprises three phases and will be the the third facility to serve the northeast Chinese port supplying the gas needs of Beijing.

The existing facilities currently include the Tianjin North onshore terminal operated by China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) and had included a separate floating facility when required.

Huge project

“The construction of these first two onshore tanks marks an important milestone for BGG's LNG terminal in Tianjin,” said Philippe Berterottière, Chairman and Chief Executive of GTT Group.

“These tanks are the first of eight planned for the site and are already the largest onshore tanks in the world equipped with our GST® technology. We thank BGG and the Chinese government for their trust and wish HQCEC every success for this new terminal,” he declared.

GTT said its technology offered many advantages compared with a traditional onshore LNG tank.

This includes safer storage management through integrated monitoring and greater storage capacity for the same footprint.

“This milestone is the reward of five years of assessment, preparation, engineering and actual construction,” said Li Yalan, who is Chairwoman of the Beijing Gas unit of parent company Beijing Entreprises Group.

“We are proud to have evolved this emerging technology into a promising solution for many projects around the world,” added Li, whose is also the current President of the International Gas Union.

“Thanks to this world first, these containment membrane tanks are on their way to becoming the state-of-the-art in LNG storage. We have been impressed by the dedication and passion of GTT and HQCEC to make this world-first a success,” she stated.

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French LNG storage technology company, has received an order to provide more full containment tanks for the new Nangang LNG import terminal being constructed by Beijing Gas at Tianjin port in northeast China.

GTT said the order was received from its partner company, China Huanqiu Contracting and Engineering Co. (HQC), for the design of four “very large” storage tanks.

This order is part of the new cooperation agreement related to the Tianjin Nangang LNG project signed in March 2021 between Beijing Gas and GTT.

It completes the order for two similar tanks signed in June 2020 with HQC.

GTT is  designing the tanks for all four phases and supplying the latest generation of membrane storage. Each tank will offer a net capacity of 220,000 cubic metres capacity.

The completed Nangang import regasification facilities will have a capacity to handle 12 million tonnes per annum of imports and an initial 2.5 MTPA of imports by 2022.

The French tech firm said the latest tanks order would be delivered in the third quarter of 2023 to the Tianjin South Port Industrial Zone in China.

The second and third phases of the Tianjin Nangang construction will include the building of a total of six additional storage tanks, each of 220,000 cubic metres capacity.

The original agreement was signed in March 2021 at a ceremony held at the French Embassy in Beijing in the presence of French Ambassador Laurent Bili, Chairman of Beijing Enterprises Group Tian Zhenqing and Li Yalan, Chairwoman of the board of Beijing Gas.

The first firm agreement for Nangang LNG followed a November 2019 accord between GTT and Beijing Gas on the occasion of the presidential visit to China of French President Emmanuel Macron for talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

GTT subsequently received an order in June 2020 for the design of two 220,000 cubic metres capacity membrane tanks.

“We are proud to continue the collaboration with HQC with this new order,” said Philippe Berterottière, Chairman and Chief Executive of GTT.

“The adoption of Full LNG Membrane technology by HQC and Beijing Gas is recognition not only of the technology's excellent performance, competitiveness and safety, but also of its positive impact in reducing the carbon footprint,” stated Berterottière.

Wei Yabin, Chairman of the Nangang project engineering firm HQC, said the contract was a boost for the company.

“Following the award of Phase I, we are proud to build four more Membrane Full Containment LNG tanks together with GTT,” said Wei.