Russia finalising route of Power of Siberia 2 pipeline: Novak
Russia is at the final stage of determining the route of the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline that will run to China via Mongolia, deputy prime minister Alexander Novak wrote in the energy ministry's in-house magazine on September 6.
The pipeline will pump up to 50bn m3/yr of gas from the Russian Arctic, and Moscow is scrambling to lock in a supply contract with Beijing to underpin its construction as soon as possible, after losing the majority of its market share in Europe over the past year. It will complement flow from the already-operational Power of Siberia 1, which is due to reach its full 38bn m3/yr capacity in the mid-2020s.
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It is "assumed," Novak said, that the pipeline will run near the cities of Achinsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kansk, Sayansk, Angarsk and Irkutsk in east Siberia, then through the Buryatia region situated south of Lake Baikal, before entering Mongolia near the settlement of Naushki.
Feasibility studies on the project were started in 2020, and Gazprom wants the pipeline up and running by the end of this decade. But Russia and China still need to decide on delivery terms including pricing, and this process could take considerable time. It took over a decade to agree on a contract for flow via Power of Siberia 1, which was finally reached in 2014.
Another question is how much gas China will need after 2030, as it already enjoys a diverse set of options for increasing imports, including from Turkmenistan and from various LNG suppliers.