LNG

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.

Beijing Gas, the growing liquefied natural and pipeline supplier, maintained substantial revenues in the first half of 2020 while profits fell as the company said it was advancing its LNG import projects in Tianjin and Tangshan.

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.