On September 15th, China's major energy infrastructure project during the 14th Five Year Plan period, the natural gas pipeline project of the Sichuan East Gas Transmission Line 2 of the State Grid Corporation, officially began construction. This project is a key step in achieving a new pattern of "five vertical and five horizontal" natural gas pipeline network in China, and also a strategic transportation channel for billions of cubic meters of atmospheric fields and billions of cubic meters of gas storage facilities in the Sichuan Chongqing region. After the completion of the project, it will transport over 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas to the areas along the route every year, further promoting the coordinated development of the central, western, and eastern coastal regions, and promoting the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

The second Sichuan East Gas Transmission Line has a total length of 4269 kilometers, including one main line and multiple branch lines, passing through eight provinces and cities including Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei, Henan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Zhejiang, and Fujian. It is connected to the first Sichuan East Gas Transmission Line, the West East Gas Pipeline System, and the Su Wan Pipeline, connecting the Southwest Gas Region, coastal LNG resources, and the central and eastern markets. It has built another east-west energy artery in the inland of China.

The entire Sichuan East Gas Transmission Line 2 will be approved for construction in stages according to the Sichuan Chongqing Hubei section and the Hubei Henan Jiangxi Anhui Zhejiang Fujian section. The Sichuan Chongqing Hubei section, which took the lead in construction, consists of one main line and 12 branch lines, with a total length of 1576 km, passing through three provinces and cities: Sichuan, Chongqing, and Hubei.

In the construction process of the Sichuan East Gas Transmission Line 2, the National Pipeline Network Group will comprehensively promote fully automatic welding technology in mountainous areas. Through the application of flexible internal welding machines and extended hot bending pipe technology, it will achieve fully automatic welding of straight pipes and hot bending pipes. Comprehensively promote the installation and modular construction of station yards, promote intensive procurement and mechanized construction, and significantly improve the integration of process equipment. Carry out management standardization, behavior standardization, operation standardization, environmental standardization, and intelligent construction site construction to achieve full process control of engineering construction and improve the intrinsic safety level of pipelines. At the same time, the National Pipeline Network Group strengthens the ecological protection throughout the construction process, optimizes the path, narrows the construction work area, reduces tree felling, and adopts tunneling, shield tunneling and other crossing technologies in environmentally sensitive areas to achieve green construction.

After the completion of the project, the annual transmission capacity of the Sichuan East Gas Pipeline System will increase to 35 billion cubic meters. Compared with coal, the additional 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas transported each year is equivalent to reducing emissions of 29.26 million tons of CO2, 639000 tons of SO2, 186400 tons of nitrogen oxides, and 14.51 million tons of dust. Promoting the proportion of natural gas in China's primary energy consumption structure to increase by more than 0.3% is of great significance for promoting energy structure adjustment and green transformation of development modes, enhancing the clean energy supply capacity along pipelines, and achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals.

(Reprinted on China Economic Net)