The liquefied natural gas (LNG) handling capacity of Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province, has now reached the 10-million-metric-ton level.

That's with the commissioning of phase three of the Zhoushan LNG receiving terminal. The upgrade was marked by the recent unloading of LNG from a tanker into the facility's newly built No 7 storage tank, following 29 months of construction.

The terminal is playing a key role in ensuring a stable natural gas supply for Zhejiang province. Phases one and two, completed in 2018 and 2021, provided four 160,000-cubic-meter tanks.

Phase three adds four 220,000-cu-m tanks, boosting total storage capacity from 640,000 to 1.52 million cu m and lifting annual handling capacity beyond 10 million tons.

During construction, safety and quality were prioritized, with 5.14 million safe working hours and zero major accidents recorded. Quality checks showed over 99 percent first-pass compliance rates in the foundations, tank steel welding, and pipeline welding work.

By adopting the tiered use of boil-off gas during pre-cooling, the project saved an estimated 1,477.5 tons of LNG — achieving both emission cuts and energy efficiency gains.

Moving forward, plans are for the terminal to continue to develop as an LNG hub — promoting the overall construction of the bulk commodity resource allocation hub in the China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone.