LNG point supply of villages and towns in China: Challenges and countermeasures

Abstract

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) point supply is one of the most flexible and convenient methods advocated by China for distributing energy to end-users such as towns and villages where it is difficult or uneconomical to construct gas pipelines. This study sorts out the advantages and challenges and designs the optimization model for LNG point supply in China based on a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model. In this model, the goal of optimization is to minimize economic and environmental costs in the construction and operation stages. By optimizing location-allocation, gas storage capacity, vaporization capacity, equipment selection, and pipeline distribution, the model meets the fluctuating seasonal demand for natural gas. This model design uses the actual construction and operation-related parameters of the vaporization station and pipeline, and applies the model to four different types of towns. Through sensitivity analysis, this study finds that the sensitivity of construction cost is relatively high.