HAIKOU /China/, January 5. /South China's Hainan Province will accelerate Hong Kong and Macau's transition to a carbon-neutral energy development model which provides for a reduction or offset of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, with the help of energy supplies from the South China Sea shelf. The Hainan Daily newspaper reported that increased production from the Shenhai-1 deep-water semi-submersible floating platform will play an important role in this.
"This project will play an even greater role in the transition to carbon neutrality of the Greater Bay Area (which includes Hong Kong, Macau and southern Guangdong Province) as well as the Hainan Free Trade Port," the newspaper quoted Wang Dongjin, head of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), as saying.
The new CNOOC-982 well, drilled with the help of this platform at a depth of 5 thousand meters under the seabed, is located in the Lingshui gas field 200 km to the south-east of the island. There are 12 production sites there. The Shenhai-1 gave Hainan access to reserves amounting to 100-150 billion cubic meters. The maximum volume of production in this water area has recently increased by 1.5 times, up to 4.5 billion cubic meters, which is equivalent to 90% of the volume of gas consumption in the province in 2021.
As Wang Dongjin noted, owing to the launch of additional facilities, the volume of gas supply will exceed 18 billion cubic meters per year. He noted that Shenhai-1 uses advanced technology that few countries have.
The Shenhai-1 deep-water semi-submersible floating platform was designed and built by China independently, without foreign support. Its service life is 150 years. The maximum storage capacity reaches 20,000 cubic meters.
According to official statistics, Hainan, together with sea areas, is about 2 million square kilometers, which is equivalent to the territory of Mexico. On the shelf of the South China Sea, there are huge reserves of hydrocarbons, the active development of which, as expected, will allow China to satisfy a significant share of domestic demand for energy resources.