The digital twin demonstration project at Gaolan Port LNG began operation on Dec 27, and is the first digital and intelligent underground gas field system in China.

The Baiyun Gas Field Cluster, located in the east of the South China Sea, now has nine gas fields and transfers natural gas to Gaolan Port via 18 subsea pipelines. These pipelines have a distance of more than 1,000 km (621 miles). The gas will be further processed and transported to areas in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area by pipelines and tank cars.

Panyu 34-1 Platform of Baiyun Gas Field Cluster [Photo courtesy Guanhai App]

The annual gas production capacity of the Baiyun Gas Field Cluster has been exceeding 6 billion cubic meters for the past three years, accounting for a quarter of the Greater Bay Area's total gas demand. It has benefited 10 cities, over 100 middle and large-sized enterprises, and over 80 million people.

Because of this, the Gaolan Port terminal has been recognized as an outpost for the supply of clean energy in the Greater Bay Area.

The demonstrative project is expected to transform the traditional working model of the Baiyun Gas Field Cluster to become informationized, digital, and intelligent.

The digital twin system is an integral part of the gas field and can carry out intelligent production allocation in processes such as exploration, mining, and transportation according to demands.

It has remarkably increased the working efficiency and production security while cutting down operation cost. The system will be further upgraded to meet up with the gas demands of industrial, commercial, and urban residents in the Greater Bay Area to the fullest extent.