Power outages slow down Russia's China shift
Since the attack on Ukraine, Russia has been pumping the largest quantities of oil and gas towards China. However, the power grid in Siberia and the Far East is not equipped to cope with these volumes - and is becoming increasingly overloaded.
Since the attack on Ukraine, Russian supplies of raw materials have in many cases had only one destination: China. Moscow has lost many partners in the West, but the People's Republic is happy to buy oil and gas at favorable prices. Russia willingly plays the role of discount gas station: it is happy to increase its oil supplies for the development of the Chinese economy, explained Russian head of state Vladimir Putin patronizingly in March when he was visited by his counterpart Xi Jinping in Moscow.
But it is not quite as simple as Putin promises. The end of Gazprom as a global gas supplier seems to be sealed, as there is no new pipeline for further deliveries to China, which Beijing is unwilling to approve. Russia is also unable to supply more oil, as the existing infrastructure in the Far East is proving to be a bottleneck in this case too. This is reported by the independent Russian exile medium The Bell.
43 pumping stations need electricity
China receives its oil via the East Siberia-Pacific pipeline. The pipeline runs from Taishet in the heart of Siberia some 2700 kilometers to the town of Skovorodino in the Amur region on the Chinese border. On the way there, the steel monster winds its way through earthquake zones, overcoming great differences in altitude and several climate zones.
The pipeline finally splits at Skovorodino: The first line has been transporting the oil to the Chinese city of Daqing since 2010. The second, much longer line was completed in 2012 and ends 2000 kilometers later at the Pacific port of Kosmino near Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan. There, the oil can be loaded onto ships and distributed all over the world.
In theory, at least, because there are increasingly frequent problems on the way there: along the East Siberia-Pacific pipeline, there are a total of 43 pumping stations at intervals of 70 to 150 kilometers, which the oil has to pass through when it flows to China or the Pacific. At these stations, it is "pushed" in a controlled manner so that the sticky mass reliably reaches its destination with new momentum. However, as The Bell reports, the state pipeline operator Transneft is having to switch off the electric motors of these pumps more and more frequently because the power grid in the Far East is overloaded.
25 power outages in nine months
In recent months, Russia has steadily increased its supply volumes for China in order to compensate for the loss of business in Europe. In February, the previous maximum volume of 2 million barrels per day was delivered via the East Siberia-Pacific pipeline, the transit country Kazakhstan and oil tankers. This was taken from import data from Chinese customs by the financial services provider S&P Global. According to the Russian state agency Interfax, around 619,000 barrels a day flow through the East Siberia-Pacific pipeline alone.
However, it does not appear possible to increase the delivery volume any further due to infrastructure limitations. According to The Bell, Transneft documents show that the flow of oil to China had to be stopped 25 times in the first nine months of this year due to disruptions and power outages. In contrast, there were only 17 power outages in the region between 2020 and 2022. Transneft blames this on Russian Railways, which has also increased its train traffic to China since the start of the war.
"The rail network is overloaded"
The disruptions are still causing comparatively minor problems: according to Transneft data, 17,000 tons of oil did not arrive in China at the agreed time this year. That is the equivalent of 2319 barrels, a fraction of the amount that flows through the East Siberia-Pacific pipeline every day.
The problem, however, is that Russia has only just begun its swing to the Far East: Russian Railways wants to further expand its capacity in the region to be able to transport more freight to and from China. However, the additional rail traffic would put further strain on the power grid on the Pacific and in large parts of Siberia. Transneft therefore already fears that pipeline problems will increase.
However, not increasing rail traffic is not an option either: "The rail network is overloaded," a Russian China expert warned months ago, according to The Bell. He reported never-ending traffic jams on the rail network to China and the Pacific.
The Russian energy supplier Rosseti therefore plans to invest the equivalent of four billion euros in the electricity grid in Siberia and the Far East this year and next. Russia's eastward swing is expensive fun.
- Despite Vladimir Putin's reassurances to Xi Jinping in March about increasing oil supplies for China's economy, the existing infrastructure in Siberia and the Far East is proving to be a bottleneck, leading to frequent power outages at the pipeline's pumping stations.
- The increased oil supply from Russia to China via the East Siberia-Pacific pipeline has resulted in 25 power outages in the first nine months of this year, compared to 17 in the two years prior, causing disruptions and delays in oil deliveries.
- The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, has been a reliable buyer of Russian raw materials, including oil and gas, following the attack on Ukraine, but the strain on China's power grids due to increased supply volumes from Russia in Siberia and the Far East is a significant challenge for both countries.
Source: www.ntv.de
