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Natural Gas
CPC's promotion of natural gas as the fuel of the future, in keeping with Taiwan's policy aim of energy diversification, is based on
its inherent advantages in terms of high thermal efficiency, low pollution profile and convenience in terms of safety and handling.
A new era of clean energy was ushered in by completion of Taiwan's first LNG receiving terminal in Kaohsiung's Yongan District
in 1990. Its capacity was later boosted by an expansion project up to 4.5 million tons annually to cope with growing demand.
A third-stage expansion project to satisfy demand for natural gas from independent power producers as well as other end-users
in northern Taiwan involved laying a 36-inch diameter, 238 km-long undersea gas pipeline from the Yongan plant to Tongxiao. Its
completion expanded CPC's annual LNG handling capacity to 7.44 million tons.
A natural gas distribution network for modern needs and times
Taiwan's second LNG terminal, built close to Taichung harbor with an annual capacity of 3 million tons, became fully operational
in 2009. It was designed to supply natural gas to Taiwan Power Company's Datan Power Station, industrial firms and household
users in northern and central Taiwan. This project entailed building three 160,000-kiloliter LNG storage tanks, gasification and
gas supply facilities and a 135-kilometer, 36-inch sea/land long distance transportation pipeline from Taichung Harbor through
the Tongxiao distribution station to the Datan measuring station. The current Taichung LNG Terminal Phase II Investment Project
calls for the construction of three additional 160,000-kiloliter above-ground storage tanks and a gasification facility at the terminal
itself, a 26-inch, 21.8 km terrestrial gas pipeline between the terminal and the Wuxi Separation Station, and a further switching
station linked with the existing 26-inch pipeline at the Wuxi site. Once completed – which is expected to be before 2018 – the
project will boost the annual capacity of the Taichung terminal to 5 million tons, ensuring a stable, dependable supply of gas
during the winter monsoon period as well as the number of days' supply on hand.
CPC has constructed a natural gas transmission and distribution system in western Taiwan comprised of approximately 1,535
kilometers of terrestrial trunk pipeline extending from Pingtung in the south to Keelung in the north, which includes eight supply
centers and 45 distribution stations. CPC's current plans and goal is the construction of interlocking ring-shaped networks to
18.9
Total domestic sales of natural gas in 2015:
billion cubic meters
22 CPC 2016