Along the nearly thousand-kilometer coastline of Jiangsu, an “underground giant dragon” driving regional energy structure transformation is rapidly taking shape: Following the successful trial operation in June this year of the Huai’an-Jianhu-Yancheng section of the Jiangsu Coastal Natural Gas Pipeline, the Huai’an Gas Storage Branch Line, and the Zhujiadian Gas Storage Branch Line project, this major provincial energy infrastructure project with a total investment of nearly 10 billion yuan recently achieved another key breakthrough.
Reporters learned during a frontline interview with a research group from the Jiangsu Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission that the coastal natural gas pipeline, designed with an annual gas transmission capacity of 28 billion cubic meters, will have cumulatively built and put into operation over 500 kilometers by the end of this year. By then, the total mileage of natural gas pipelines operated by the Provincial Guoxin Group will exceed 1,000 kilometers, achieving interconnection with the national pipeline network and multiple gas storage facilities, injecting strong green momentum into the development of the Yangtze River Delta region.
“Three Network Integrations”
Building the “Jiangsu Model” for Provincial-Network Integration
As early as the beginning of June this year, during the peak summer power consumption period, monitoring screens at the dispatch center of the Coastal Gas Pipeline Company showed that the pipeline pressure had stabilized at the set value, marking the successful one-time commissioning of the Huai’an-Jianhu-Yancheng section and the gas storage branch line projects, officially entering the trial operation phase. This pipeline section is 150 kilometers long, includes 4 stations and 5 valve chambers, connects important peak-shaving facilities such as Jiangsu Guoneng Zhangxing Gas Storage and Sinopec Zhujiadian Gas Storage, and has successfully achieved interconnection with the National Pipeline Network’s China-Russia Eastern Route Yancheng Station and the Qingning Pipeline Huai’an Station.
It is worth mentioning that as early as December last year, the coastal gas pipeline had already achieved initial interconnection with the National Pipeline Network’s China-Russia Eastern Route, laying the foundation for building a “national unified network” for natural gas supply.
As the main force in provincial energy supply assurance, Guoxin Group has actively explored pipeline network integration. According to a cooperation agreement signed with the National Pipeline Network Group in February 2025, the two parties will promote the deep integration of the Jiangsu provincial pipeline network with national infrastructure through the “Three Network Integrations” model of “Physical Network Integration, Commercial Network Integration, and Dispatch Network Integration.”
This cooperative path, referred to by the industry as the “Jiangsu Model,” is gradually being implemented and delivering results.
Currently, the interconnection plans between the coastal pipeline and the national pipeline network in Yancheng, Huai’an, and Nantong have been approved. Among them, the Yancheng connecting line has been completed, and the Huai’an connecting line is expected to be completed in mid-December. The establishment of a coordinated operation mechanism has effectively improved the efficiency of natural gas resource allocation and provided support for reducing end-user gas costs.
“Purchase, Sale, Transport, Storage, Use”
Full Industry Chain Takes Initial Shape
As the largest provincial state-owned energy enterprise, as the “14th Five-Year Plan” period draws to a close, the Provincial Guoxin Group is intensifying efforts to accelerate the construction of a full natural gas industry chain, expanding from pipeline transportation to the integrated “purchase, sale, transport, storage, and use” model.
In Rudong Yangkou Port, Nantong, the Guoxin LNG receiving terminal project, known as the “offshore energy station,” is under intensive construction and is planned to be fully completed by the end of this year.
This project has a total investment of approximately 7.7 billion yuan, including four 200,000 cubic meter LNG storage tanks and one dedicated terminal. Upon operation, the total LNG tank capacity is expected to reach 800,000 cubic meters, capable of meeting the province’s emergency gas demand for three days. It will also become the first large-scale storage, transportation, and peak-shaving project independently invested in and constructed by Jiangsu.
To assist in building the province’s new power system, Guoxin Group is also actively expanding upstream gas sources by taking stakes in projects such as the PetroChina Rudong LNG receiving terminal. In the future, these infrastructures will connect with the Southern Jiangsu pipeline network system and coordinate with gas-fired power plants, forming a more complete natural gas industry system.
Over 1,000 Kilometers of Pipeline Network
Supporting Green Transformation
“As of now, the approved mileage for the Jiangsu Coastal Natural Gas Pipeline exceeds 500 kilometers, with a cumulative built mileage of about 446 kilometers,” said Zhang Yan, General Manager of Guoxin Coastal Pipeline Company. It is estimated that by the end of the year, the total length of the Group’s operational pipelines in Southern Jiangsu combined with the trial operation pipelines in Central and Northern Jiangsu of the coastal pipeline will exceed 1,000 kilometers.
The accelerated completion of this energy artery will significantly enhance Jiangsu Province’s natural gas supply security capacity and have a profound impact on regional green development. In recent years, Guoxin Group has actively built a comprehensive energy system with diversified coordination of “wind, solar, hydro, thermal, gas, and storage.” It is estimated that the Group’s future natural gas supply assurance scale will account for about 15% of the province’s total, comparable to its power supply assurance volume.
As the deadline for the full completion of the coastal pipeline’s under-construction projects approaches by the end of 2025, this continuously extending natural gas channel in Jiangsu is not just a pipeline delivering clean fuel; it is becoming the energy lifeline driving the Yangtze River Delta towards green and high-quality development. (Ni Min)
Source: Xinhua Daily ·交汇点
