Rolls-Royce wins $120m Chinese pipeline contract

The orders, from PetroChina, include an extension to the company's involvement in the initial West to East Gas Pipeline Project (WEPP), a second West to East pipeline currently under construction. Three RB211-powered gas compressor packages and a single motor-driven compressor have been ordered for Line 1 of the WEPP pipeline to increase installed horsepower at various stations along the pipeline. Crossing ten Chinese provinces from the West Gobi desert to Shanghai in the East, this 4,000km line has a capacity of 17 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas per year. In addition, six RB211 compressor packages have been ordered for the 2,450 km Western section of Line 2, which is being constructed to transport gas from the Chinese border with Kazakhstan in the West to Zhongwei, the intersection point the regions of Ningxia, Gansu and Inner Mongolia. When completed and fully operational, this line is designed to have a capacity of 30 bcm of natural gas per year, which is broadly equivalent to the current annual domestic consumption of natural gas in the UK. Tony Ruegger, vice-president - oil & gas for the Rolls-Royce energy business, said: "We are very pleased to once again be selected by PetroChina to provide Rolls-Royce power and compression equipment for their growing pipeline network. "These latest orders emphasise the increasing success of Rolls-Royce equipment and expertise in China, one of the world's most important energy markets." The RB211 gas generators will be manufactured at the company's Montreal facility in Canada while packaging of the units and the manufacture of the compressors will take place in Mount Vernon, Ohio.