Second West-East Gas Pipeline set to start Hong Kong supplies this summer

It sounds like an engineer's pipe dream - a 9,000-kilometre-long pipeline stretching from Turkmenistan in Central Asia to Hong Kong and bringing energy to the homes of more than 500 million people along the way.

This summer, the dream becomes a reality for Hong Kong as the world's longest natural gas pipeline begins providing an environmentally-friendly new supply of energy to keep our city buzzing around the clock.

The Second West-East Gas Pipeline is the single biggest energy investment project in the history of the country. Begun in 2008, it is already powering cities across the mainland. It starts in Xinjiang, where it connects to the Central Asia-China Gas Pipeline, and crosses 15 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. It can carry 30 billion cubic metres of gas a year. Built by a workforce of 50,000 people, the pipeline passes through mountains, deserts and swamps, and crosses 60 hills and mountains, and around 190 rivers.

The project cost 142 billion yuan (HK$178.8 billion) and is operated by the China National Petroleum Corporation. From this summer, it will provide a new source of gas to Hong Kong, replacing the supply the city has been drawing from Yacheng near Hainan Island since 1996 and which is now nearly exhausted. Work on the gigantic project began in 2008. A little over three years later, the main trunk went into operation across the mainland and in August last year the Guangzhou to Shenzhen stretch went live. Now, after a huge engineering effort, Hong Kong is about to join the network.

For us at CLP, bringing the natural gas on the final leg of its journey from Central Asia to Hong Kong was a significant challenge that involved building a 20-kilometre undersea stretch, testing our resources and ingenuity and requiring close co-operation to deal with a range of regulatory requirements. The operation involved hundreds of engineers working from the Zhong You Hai 101 Lay Barge, one of Asia's most advanced water-pipe laying and lifting barges that works in shallow and deep waters, carrying 200 pipefitters and welders.

The Hong Kong branch line of pipeline links Dachan Island, off Shenzhen, with Black Point power station. It took 1,600 carbon steel pipes, each 12 metres long and weighing approximately 13 tonnes.

Every section of the pipeline was meticulously checked. Each weld joint had to pass an automatic ultrasonic testing. The entire pipeline, including its coating and corrosion protection system, was thoroughly inspected before being laid into the seabed.