China is preparing to turn on the "Power of Siberia" at full capacity

China has completed the construction of the last section of the Eastern Route gas pipeline, along which gas from the Power of Siberia will go all the way to Shanghai on the southeast coast of China. Without its launch, the Chinese company simply will not be able to accept the entire contracted volume of Russian gas. The project was completed 7 months ahead of schedule, which is why Gazprom and CNPC previously postponed the start of maximum deliveries to this December.

"On November 18, after welding the last joint in Haimen, Jiangsu Province (on the other side of the Yangtze from Shanghai), the project of the Chinese-Russian gas pipeline Eastern Route, an important Eastern energy corridor in China, was completed," reports Chinese PipeChina. The company noted that the final stage of commissioning of the gas pipeline has begun.

"The final section of the project was completed 7 months ahead of schedule," PipeChina said.

Gazprom put the Power of Siberia into operation in December 2019. However, the full contract capacity was to be reached in 2025. This was due both to the fact that Gazprom continued to develop the Chayandinskoye and Kovyktinskoye fields, and to the construction of a gas pipeline across China to an industrial area in the east of the country.

The total length of the continuation of the "Power of Siberia" in China will be more than 5 thousand kilometers. Of these, 3.37 thousand kilometers is a new gas pipeline. PipeChina stated that bringing the gas pipeline to Shanghai would weaken China's dependence on LNG and partially reduce gas costs.

"Currently, pipelines from Heihe in Heilongjiang province on the border with Russia to Taixing in Jiangsu Province has been put into operation, and the entire line is expected to be completed by the end of this year. To date, more than 78 billion cubic meters of natural gas have been safely and smoothly transported along the Sino-Russian eastern route," PipeChina said.

The company noted that the new gas pipeline will be the first in the country to be built from extra—large diameter pipes - 1422 mm. In addition, technological innovations have made it possible to build a pipeline in the areas of numerous rivers and water supply networks.

"The southern section of the Sino-Russian eastern route crosses 79 large and medium—sized rivers and highways, as well as more than 1,200 small rivers and ditches," the Chinese company noted.

Obviously, the September decision of Gazprom and the state-owned company CNPC on the early withdrawal of daily gas supplies to China via the Power of Siberia to the maximum contractual level is also connected with the earlier completion of the construction of the gas pipeline to China.

"At the meeting, an additional agreement was signed to the gas purchase and sale agreement on the eastern route. In accordance with the request of the Chinese partners, the parties agreed on additional deliveries in December 2024. Thus, the early withdrawal of daily gas supplies to China via the Power of Siberia gas pipeline to the maximum contractual level will be ensured (previously it was planned to do this in early 2025),"Gazprom reported.

This year, the supply of Russian pipeline gas to China should reach 30 billion cubic meters, and next year it will reach 38 billion cubic meters. After the launch of the Far Eastern route in 2027, Gazprom's exports to China should increase by another 10 billion cubic meters per year. This year, exports to China has already exceeded the supply of the Russian company to Europe.