LNG

May 3 (LNGJ) - French maritime and onshore LNG technology company GTT has signed a licence agreement with the Chinese company PipeChina Innovation.

   GTT said that the two companies were committed to jointly pursue commercial onshore LNG storage projects in China using the French firm’s membrane containment technology. Sang Guangshi, General Manager of PipeChina Innovation, and Adnan Ezzarhouni, General Manager of GTT China, signed the agreement at GTT’s headquarters.

Asian liquefied natural gas demand is projected to increase in 2024 led by China even amid competition facing gas-fired power from electricity generated in the region by coal and with more pipeline gas heading for the Chinese border from Russia.

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.

China National Offshore Oil Corp. has received the first liquefied natural gas cargo, delivered from Qatar, to the giant Yancheng-Binhai Port import terminal with 10 storage tanks in eastern Jiangsu Province.

China National Offshore Oil Corp. said it completed the concrete castings for the foundations of six of the world's largest LNG storage tanks being constructed for the Yancheng-Binhai Port terminal in China's eastern Jiangsu Province.

CNOOC said the six storage tanks, each with 270,000 cubic metres capacity, have been designed and developed in China.

Upon completion, each of six new storage tank will be 60 metres high and with each having a diameter of 100.6 metres and with a total casting volume of 70,860 cubic metres.

The Yancheng-Binhai terminal first phase involves the construction of 10 large-scale LNG storage tanks, including four already built and which are smaller with 220,000 cubic metres capacity.

Ren Jianxun, deputy manager of the project, was cited by CNOOC as saying that low winter temperatures presented a problem in trying to avoid cracks in the massive volumes of concrete being used.

“We decided to adjust the concrete pouring area to be symmetrical scattered by 45 degrees, thus reducing the length of construction joints, effectively preventing cracks and improving construction quality,” explained Ren.

CNOOC said that the cost of the six largest tanks was around 6 billion yuan ($950 million) and the Binhai venture would have two gas-fired power plants adjacent.

The first phase is scheduled to come on line by the end of 2023 with the 10 tanks operating.

Jiangsu's Yancheng-Binhai terminal will have an annual LNG regasification capacity of an initial 6 million tonnes per annum, though will also have the largest LNG storage base in China with the 10 tanks.

Further expansion

CNOOC has described the Binhai project as an important asset in the industrial upgrade of the Yangtze River Economic Zone.

For the next stage of the project, CNOOC said it would likely add a further 10 storage tanks, each of 270,000 cubic metres of capacity, to give an open-ended capability.

CNOOC has the largest regasification capacity of the Chinese majors with a presence in eight of the existing 22 import terminals, even after state-backed PipeChina bought and opened up several CNOOC-owned terminals to third-party access.

A second large LNG import terminal with mega-storage, the Tianjin Port Nangang project in northeast China, is also under development.

June 4 (LNGJ) - French LNG storage tanks technology firm GTT has received another order for the design of two very large membrane full containment storage tanks from China’s Chengda Engineering. GTT will design the two latest generation tanks, each with a net capacity of 220,000 cubic metres.

   GTT said the order was part of the cooperation agreement between Beijing Gas and GTT related to the Tianjin Nangang LNG terminal project in northeast China. The two tanks are scheduled to be delivered to the Tianjin South Industrial Zone for Phase III construction in the second quarter of 2024. 

Gaztransport and Technigaz, the French technology designer of LNG maritime and onshore storage systems, has received and order for China’s largest ever LNG storage tanks for the Nangang import terminal proposed for Tianjin City, east of Beijing.

GTT said it order came from the building company China Huanqiu Contracting & Engineering Co. (HQC) for the design of two membrane full-containment LNG tanks, each with net capacity of 220,000 cubic metres.

This LNG tanks order follows a preliminary agreement signed in November 2019 between GTT and the Chinese state-owned company Beijing Enterprises Group in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

The Nangang terminal is being developed by Beijing Gas and will give the Tianjin port city area three import facilities to guarantee energy supply security to the Chinese capital.

The terminal will have an initial 5 million tonnes per annum of capacity and adds to the supply available from Sinopec’s Tianjin North import terminal and the Floating Storage and Regasification Unit capacity deployed in recent years by China National Offshore Oil Corp.

“We are honoured that the project promoted by HQC, proposing our technology, has been awarded,” said Philippe Berterottière, Chairman and Chief Executive of GTT.

“GTT is proud to contribute in the technological partnership between France and China,” he added.

The company said that it would design these membrane tanks which will be fitted with the GST technology developed by GTT.

“The onshore storage tanks will be located in the Tianjin south port Industrial Zone and are expected to be commissioned during the last quarter of 2022,” explained GTT.

HQC Chairwoman Wang Xinge said GTT had given full support to her company for the building of the first and largest GTT full-containment tanks in China.

“We are proud to have been awarded this project and to lead the innovation in China together with Beijing Gas and GTT,” she stated.

With a population of around 113 million, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is one of the most important economic engines within China and has increasing natural gas demand.

It is also an area where the Chinese government has concentrated its “Blue Skies” policy to reducing coal consumption will also deliver the co-benefit of improving air quality.

Beijing Gas is mainly engaged in city-gas distribution and supplies more than 10 billion cubic metres per annum to the Chinese capital and surrounding areas.

The new Tianjin terminal project has already been approved by the National Development and Reform Commission.

Beijing Gas said its terminal in Tianjin was expected to be completed by 2022 and would include emergency reserves comprising 10 extra storage tanks.

There would also be a pipeline of 230 kilometres to send regasified LNG supplies to gas storage facilities near Beijing.

Yantai Port Group, the Chinese cargo transportation, warehousing and harbour management company in the northeast province of Shandong just south of Beijing, plans to take part in up to three liquefied natural gas storage and terminal projects to be completed between 2022 and 2025.