June 24, 2024 [LNG Prime]- China’s Beijing Gas will soon launch the second phase at its Tianjin Nangang LNG import terminal in the Tianjin south port industrial zone.

In September 2023, the Tianjin Nangang LNG facility received its first commissioning cargo for the first 5 mtpa phase of the facility which entailed the construction of four 220,000-cbm LNG storage tanks.

This included two LNG storage tanks incorporating GTT’s GST membrane containment technology, while two other LNG tanks in the first phase do not have GTT’s tech.

Including all three phases, the terminal will have in total ten LNG storage tanks.

Four 220,000-cbm tanks in the second phase and two 220,000-cbm LNG tanks in the third phase also feature GTT’s tech.

Beijing Gas said in a statement on Monday that it has already completed commissioning of two LNG tanks built as part of the second phase and it expects to complete commissioning of the other two LNG tanks by the end of this month.

Also, two LNG tanks being built as part of the third phase are expected to be launched later this year.

The completion of the second phase will significantly boost Beijing’s natural gas peak and emergency storage capacity and increase the city’s energy security, as well as in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the state-owned gas distributor said.

During the 2023-2024 heating season, the first phase of the LNG terminal delivered about 380 million cubic meters of natural gas to China’s capital, according to Beijing Gas.

China’s LNG imports rose 12.6 percent in 2023, and the country overtook Japan as the world’s largest LNG importer.

The country received about 71.32 million tonnes in the January-December period.

During January-May this year, China imported 32.42 million tonnes of LNG, a rise of 18.1 percent year-on-year, according to customs data.