A checkpoint has been reached and celebrated by construction personnel on the Power of Siberia pipeline project, with a cross-border section opened on the Russian-Chinese border. An inauguration ceremony for a temporary two-way checkpoint on the border has taken place in the Blagoveshchensky district of the Amur region.
The inauguration event was attended by Vitaly Markelov (Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee), Wang Dongjin (Vice President of CNPC) and Alexander Kozlov (Governor of the Amur region).
The Verkhneblagoveshchensky temporary checkpoint was built by Gazprom for the crossing under the Amur River as part of the Power of Siberia pipeline construction project’s cross-border section. The checkpoint is meant to provide unfettered access to the restricted area for operating personnel and construction equipment.
The two-string underwater crossing will connect Power of Siberia pipeline to China’s gas transmission system. The project entails the construction of two 1139 m tunnels with an inside diameter of 2.44 m each, to provide gas deliveries of 38 billion m3/y.
“Construction of the Power of Siberia pipeline is proceeding at a rapid pace. As of today, 719 km of the gas pipeline’s linear section have been built. The opening of this checkpoint is vital to synchronising efforts aimed at establishing gas transmission capacities across Russia and China,” said Vitaly Markelov.
Image courtesy of Gazprom.