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Recently, the European Commission announced that it had approved a 40 million euro support measure according to the EU's national aid rules for the construction and operation of a new land-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Brunsbüttel, Germany.

The receiving station has an annual processing capacity of 10 billion cubic meters. The terminal includes import, storage, and distribution facilities and is scheduled to begin operation by the end of 2026. This measure will contribute to the security and diversification of Germany's energy supply, and help get rid of dependence on Russian fossil fuels according to the REPowerEU plan.

With the increasing importance of natural gas, countries around the world are actively developing natural gas resources and improving supply capacity. The scale and technological level of natural gas receiving stations are constantly improving, ensuring the safe supply and effective utilization of natural gas. At the same time, the application of emerging technologies such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) technology has also driven the development of natural gas receiving stations, which will promote the application of clean energy and the diversification of energy supply.

——The global number of LNG receiving stations has reached 129

The main function of LNG receiving stations is to receive LNG transported by specialized LNG transport ships from the production site, which is then gasified and transported to users through pipelines. It is one of the essential equipment for receiving overseas LNG. From the perspective of station layout, the receiving station mainly includes important areas such as the dock, tank farm, and tank truck loading area.

According to the World LNG Report 2020 released by IGU, as of the end of 2019, there were a total of 129 LNG receiving stations in operation worldwide, an increase of 7 compared to 2018, mainly driven by the construction of new receiving stations in countries such as Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, and Jamaica.

——The total scale of global LNG receiving stations has expanded, but the average receiving capacity has decreased

As of the end of 2019, the annual receiving capacity of LNG receiving stations that have been put into operation worldwide has reached 816 million tons, with an average receiving capacity of 6.323 million tons per LNG receiving station. It can be seen that from 2010 to 2019, the scale of global LNG receiving stations' receiving capacity continued to expand, but the average receiving capacity continued to decline.

——China is the country with the largest number of LNG receiving stations in operation in the world

From the distribution of LNG receiving stations in countries/regions that have been put into operation, Japan and China are the countries with the highest number of LNG receiving stations in the world, with 32 and 22 operating stations respectively, accounting for a total of 41.8%.

——Current Situation of LNG Terminal Construction in China

According to IGU data, the number of LNG receiving stations in China showed a stable growth trend from 2015 to 2019, but no new LNG receiving station projects were completed and put into operation in 2020. As of the end of 2020, the number of LNG receiving stations remained at 22, the same as in 2019.

According to the analysis of Forward Looking Industry Research Institute, based on foreign development experience, China's LNG receiving stations will continue to expand and develop towards large-scale development in the future. As of the end of 2019, the average receiving capacity of a single receiving station in China is about 3.5 million tons per year, and the receiving capacity of a single receiving station is still relatively low. In contrast, the average receiving capacity of LNG terminals in developed countries such as Japan, Singapore, and Europe, where the LNG industry started earlier, is at a relatively high level, around 6 million tons per year.

Considering that China's natural gas production is limited at present, according to the prediction of Sinopec Economic and Technological Research Institute, the annual average growth rate of imported LNG in China will remain around 10% from 2020 to 2030. As LNG terminals are the necessary infrastructure for receiving imported LNG, Sinopec Economic and Technical Research Institute predicts that the construction of LNG terminals in China will continue to grow in the next decade. By 2025, the capacity of LNG terminals in operation in China can meet the import demand, and the annual receiving capacity of domestic LNG terminals will total 141 million tons; After 2025, the construction heat of domestic LNG receiving stations will decrease, and by 2030, the annual receiving capacity of domestic LNG receiving stations will be maintained at around 148 million tons.