On January 26, 2026, with the joint opening of valves at various distribution stations, the natural gas pipeline of the Jining branch of the China Russia East Line was put into operation, and clean energy from natural gas in eastern Russia flowed into the Jining pipeline network, injecting strong power into energy security in southwestern Shandong and surrounding areas.  

The Jining branch of the China Russia East Line is a key construction project for gas source guarantee in the "Winter Clean Heating Plan for Northern Regions" jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and ten other ministries. It has a total length of 193 kilometers and a design pressure of 10 megapascals. It starts from the Sishui Water Transmission Station on the China Russia East Line and passes through nine counties (cities, districts) including Sishui County, Qufu City, Yanzhou District, Rencheng District, Wenshang County, High tech Zone, Taibai Lake New District, Zoucheng City, and Weishan County, with an annual gas transmission capacity of 3.3 billion cubic meters.  

Zhao Yang, member of the Party Group and Deputy Director of Jining Energy Bureau, introduced that the project is interconnected with national trunk pipelines such as West East Gas Pipeline 1, 2, and China Russia East Line, as well as the high-pressure natural gas pipelines in five western counties of Jining and the "Feng, Pei, Xiao, and Dang" and the salt cavern gas storage in Feng County, forming a "one network" of high-pressure natural gas pipelines covering Jining and its surrounding areas, providing strong support for improving the clean energy supply system in the adjacent areas of Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan, and Anhui, and ensuring the natural gas supply in the city and surrounding areas.  

The project will start construction in September 2023 and complete the construction task by the end of 2025. During the construction process, Jining City established a leadership group to coordinate and promote project approval, planning and site selection, land acquisition and relocation, and successively overcome more than 200 difficulties and challenges such as river, railway, and highway crossings. The entire project uses seamless steel pipes and adds cement sleeves in key sections such as crossing railways, eliminating leakage hazards from the source.  

As a "2+36" corridor city in the Beijing Tianjin Hebei region and a pilot city for clean heating in winter in northern China, Jining's natural gas demand continues to grow with the continuous extension of the "gas to coal" project and the rapid development of industrial economy. The production and ventilation of the Jining branch of the China Russia East Line has greatly improved the guarantee capacity of natural gas energy in Jining, giving us more confidence.

 Yang Bing, head of the Development Planning Department of Jining Energy Bureau, introduced that natural gas, as a clean energy source, can reduce carbon emissions by 40% and nitrogen oxide emissions by 90% compared to coal, and basically does not produce sulfides. 3.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas can reduce coal consumption for power generation by 1.5 million tons. Jining is planning to construct a new natural gas cogeneration project, further transforming the guarantee advantage of natural gas into a winning force in ensuring stable operation of the power grid and promoting green, low-carbon, and high-quality development.  

Feng Yuan, Deputy Director of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Department of Shandong Provincial Energy Bureau, stated that the China Russia East Line is the national energy artery, and the Jining Branch Line, as a key extension in Shandong, is of great significance for its completion and operation. It will significantly enhance the connectivity and resource allocation capabilities of our province's main pipeline network, help to continuously promote the optimization and upgrading of energy consumption structure, and fully serve the comprehensive green transformation of the economy and society. (Popular News reporter Wang Haoqi, intern Zhang Ying, correspondent Wang Ruguang)Editor/Bian Wenjun