A group of liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tanks, boasting the world's largest single-tank capacity, was completed in Zhuhai City, south China’s Guangdong Province, on Friday, significantly boosting the region's ability to ensure stable natural gas supply in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
After 37 months of construction, the five LNG storage tanks, towering as tall as five 20-story buildings and each spanning nearly 100 meters in diameter, have been finished. With a capacity of storing up to 270,000 cubic meters of liquefied natural gas each, the storage tanks will undergo a debugging phase before being put into use.
The five tanks represent the second phase of the Jinwan "Green Energy Port" project developed by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC). The project’s first phase came into service in 2013 and consists of three LNG storage tanks, each with a storage capacity of 160,000 cubic meters.
With a combined storage capacity of 1.83 million cubic meters, the Jinwan "Green Energy Port" project is emerging as the largest natural gas storage and transportation hub in southern China, greatly enhancing the region's ability to ensure a stable natural gas supply in the Greater Bay Area.
"Once the project is fully operational, it will work alongside offshore gas fields like Liwan 3-1, Huizhou 21-1, and Panyu 30-1 to supply gas to cities including Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhuhai, Zhongshan and Jiangmen, ensuring energy security for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and south China," said Shen Bairen, project manager of the second phase.
The completion of the second phase of the project will increase the annual LNG processing capacity of the Jinwan "Green Energy Port" to 7 million tons, equivalent to 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas. This capacity can meet the annual domestic gas needs of 30 million households and generate 50 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity.
Construction of LNG tank group with world's largest single-tank capacity completed in Guangdong
The frequent group visits led by Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang, to the mainland have contributed to fostering a warmer atmosphere in cross-Strait relations.
Ma led a group of youth from Taiwan visited Heilongjiang Province in the northwest and Sichuan Province in the southwest from December 18 to 26, marking his third group visit to the mainland in the past two years.
Ahead of the visit, a 94-year-old Anti-Japanese War veteran wrote a sincere letter after learning that Ma would visit the Exhibition Hall of Evidence of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese aggressor troops.
In the message, Wang Jitang, the veteran, expressed his support for Ma's commitment to the "1992 Consensus" and the advancement of peaceful cross-Strait relations.
"As a veteran of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the history I personally experienced is also a shared pain and struggle for compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are of a same family. We are like relatives. I hope that young friends in Taiwan, like Ma, will treat the mainland as their own home, visit often as if visiting relatives, and frequently engage with each other," Wang said.
Hsiao Hsu-tsen, executive director of the Taiwan-based Ma Ying-jeou Culture and Education Foundation, said he was deeply moved by Wang's sincere wish.
"History must never be forgotten. Through such on-site visits and study, we need to experience and appreciate how our forefathers sacrificed themselves to protect our homeland and defend our country," Hsiao said. When talking about the purpose of the current group visit, Ma emphasized the crucial importance of mutual exchanges between young people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait. He expressed the hope to build a bridge for peace between the two sides which transcends political challenges, and which conveys the shared desire of the people on both sides for communication.
Many people from the both sides of the Taiwan Strait agree that the more tense cross-Strait relations become, the more vital it is to sustain exchanges.
Ma Ying-jeou's frequent group visits to mainland enhance warmth in cross-Strait relations
