China News Agency, Urumqi, August 20 (Sun Tingwen and Ji Xianfeng) – On August 20, as the gas valve opened, the coal of Xinjiang Yili River Valley converted natural gas and began to enter the West-East Gas Transmission Pipelines from the gas transmission station of Xinjiang Kingho Group, towards all corners of China. On the same day, Phase I, Xinjiang Kingho’s 5b Cubic Meters/Year SNG Project was competed and commissioned.
  It is reported that in mid-July 2012, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) approved the group’s 5b Cubic Meters/Year SNG Demonstration Project, which is the first state-approved SNG project ins Xinjiang and also one of landmark projects of Xinjiang’s energy development and construction. The completion and commissioning of Phase I, the project marks a significant breakthrough of China in large-scale SNG production with fixed-bed pulverized coal gasification, filling in the domestic blank.
  According to Xu Zhong, General Manager of Xinjiang Kingho Energy Group, as of the end of July, phase I (1.375 billion cubic meters/year SNG project) and its supporting facilities have actually completed RMB 11 billion of investment, including RMB 1.6 billion in environmental protection (about 14.5% of the total investment). Currently, Phase I has been completed and production process has been opened. The SNG produced officially entered the gas pipeline network of PertroChina on the same day.
  Xu also noted that after the completion, the entire project will realize RMB 15 billion of sales income each year and RMB 2.5 billion of profit and directly provide nearly 10,000 jobs.
  Kuresh Mehsutka, Vice Chairman of CPC Committee of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, said at the commissioning ceremony that it has become an urgent need of Xinjiang’s leap-forward development and long-term stability to accelerate the development of energy industry now. He hoped that Kingho Group could firmly establish a concept of “ecological development and environmental protection first”, take this opportunity to continue to give full play to human resources, capital and technology advantages and further accelerate the construction of the projects in Xinjiang.
  It is reported that Xinjiang Kingho Energy Group is located in Yining County of Yili Prefecture. Yili Valley is abundant with coal and water resources and possesses natural gas pipeline network. It is an ideal place for large-scale SNG project construction.
  The estimated coal reserves in Xinjiang is 2.19 trillion tons, accounting for 40% of national gross. According to incomplete statistics, Xinjiang is constructing and carrying out the preparatory work for more than 30 SNG projects, with annual capacity exceeding 150 billion cubic meters.