Northeast China's largest coal-to-gas project has officially commenced operations; coal will be converted into natural gas. How is coal converted into natural gas, and could this become a future development direction?

This confidence stems from China Datang’s nearly two decades of technological expertise in the coal-to-natural-gas (CTG) field. Its Kerqi project has built the world’s largest operational CTG facility, achieving an energy conversion efficiency of 57.59%—the industry’s highest. Its gasifier set a new industry record with over 400 consecutive days of stable operation. Crucially, the methanation catalyst—once monopolized by foreign suppliers—has been successfully localized, resolving a critical ‘bottleneck’ technology challenge. China Datang’s low-rank coal CTG technology has been certified by the industry association as internationally leading overall. The domestic equipment localization rate exceeds 98%, significantly enhancing both plant operational stability and production economics. Why pursue coal-to-gas? China is ‘rich in coal, poor in oil, and scarce in gas’. Its natural gas import dependency exceeds 40%, making energy security a pressing, real-world challenge. Converting coal资源优势 into energy security advantage, coal-to-natural gas represents one strategic pathway. In 2011, the Fuxin project—the Northeast’s first CTG demonstration project—broke ground. With a planned investment exceeding RMB 20 billion, its announcement immediately carried high expectations for supporting the revitalization of Northeast China. ‘Coal-to-natural gas can give coal the wings of clean energy,’ an elder engineer told young technicians at the project’s outset—a remark that captured the initiative’s core value. A series of policy signals continue to illuminate the path forward: The ‘14th Five-Year Plan Implementation Program for Comprehensive Revitalization of Northeast China’ prioritizes optimizing the energy mix as a key transformation focus; the 2021 Central Economic Work Conference emphasized clean and efficient coal utilization; and the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China stressed strengthening the energy production, supply, storage, and sales system to ensure energy security. Will it be a future development direction? From the perspective of energy security, CTG serves as a vital supplementary pillar. China Datang’s Kerqi project produces over 2.6 billion standard cubic meters annually—over 13% of Beijing’s annual gas consumption—and is a crucial backup source for the capital. With the commissioning of the first production line at the Fuxin project, China Datang’s total annual CTG capacity reaches 4 billion standard cubic meters, accounting for over 40% of China’s national CTG output. The Fuxin project supplies gas via a ‘dual-channel’ system: A 300-kilometer-long pipeline delivers gas directly to cities including Shenyang and Fuxin, benefiting 15 million people; complementing the China-Russia East-Route gas pipeline, it strengthens emergency resilience under extreme conditions. From economic and regional value perspectives, the project’s restart itself embodies the realization of multiple values. Cumulative investment totals hundreds of billions of RMB; upon full operation, annual output value will reach several billion RMB, shifting profitability from negative to positive; direct employment will exceed 2,000 positions; annual coal consumption will reach several million tons, helping revitalize associated coal mines and establishing a cross-regional cooperative framework—‘Mongolian coal into Liaoning’; downstream development of fine chemicals and new materials, coupled with integrated wind-power co-generation, transforms local wind-energy advantages into economic gains. From the green transition perspective, the project incorporates renewable energy infrastructure, employs zero-discharge wastewater treatment technology, and implements comprehensive energy-saving upgrades across all equipment—fully embodying green development principles and aligning closely with Liaoning Province’s goals for low-carbon energy transition.

Liaoning Province has restarted its RMB 24.5-billion coal-to-gas project to resolve the Northeast’s energy dilemma.

In August 2025, Liaoning Province and China Datang Group engaged in intensive coordination, jointly convening the launch meeting of the joint task force for restarting the Datang coal-to-gas project and establishing a dedicated collaborative mechanism for its advancement. These actions mark the formal entry of the RMB 24.57-billion Datang coal-to-gas project into substantive implementation—offering a long-awaited breakthrough for this mega-project, which has weathered over a decade of setbacks. With a planned annual output of 4 billion cubic meters of natural gas, the project holds transformative potential for Liaoning Province, where natural gas consumption stood at 9.47 billion cubic meters in 2024 while local production amounted to only 0.813 billion cubic meters—meaning the project could substantially boost the province’s self-sufficiency rate. 01 Over a Decade of Setbacks, Now Restarting a Mega-Project The Datang coal-to-gas project traces its origins to 2009, when Liaoning Province proposed accelerating the construction of Datang’s 4-billion-cubic-meter-per-year CTG project to alleviate regional natural gas shortages. Sited in the Xinqiu District Coal Chemical Industry Park in Fuxin City, the project was not only Fuxin’s largest single-investment initiative in history but also featured a clear phased construction roadmap—planned in three phases, each producing 1.33 billion standard cubic meters annually, culminating in a total capacity of 4 billion standard cubic meters per year upon full completion. To advance implementation, China Datang established Liaoning Datang International Fuxin Coal-to-Gas Co., Ltd. in November 2010, specifically tasked with the project’s construction and operation. However, just three years after initiation, the project encountered severe difficulties and officially halted in 2014. The primary cause was raw material supply disruption: the project originally relied on lignite from the Dong-2 Mine of Inner Mongolia’s Shengli Coalfield, but the suspension of the Ba-Xin Railway drastically increased coal transportation costs, breaking the chain of stable feedstock supply. Despite these challenges, Liaoning Province maintained unwavering commitment to the project. Since its inception, it has repeatedly appeared in provincial and Fuxin municipal government work reports and remained consistently listed as a top-priority initiative. This persistence drove a full-scale resumption of construction in April 2018 and even enabled completion of critical milestones—including pipeline blow-downs—in June 2020. 02 Liaoning’s Natural Gas Anxiety Liaoning Province’s steadfast pursuit of the Datang CTG project reflects its acute energy supply-demand imbalance. In 2024, Liaoning produced only 0.813 billion cubic meters of natural gas yet consumed 9.47 billion cubic meters—requiring over 8 billion cubic meters of external imports annually, more than ten times its local output. More critically, demand continues rising steadily. As a major traditional industrial base in China, Liaoning hosts strategically vital sectors such as equipment manufacturing, petrochemicals, and metallurgy. With ongoing industrial restructuring and upgrading, demand for natural gas from steel and chemical industries is growing steadily. Simultaneously, emerging high-tech sectors—including electronics and new materials—favor clean energy, further driving up natural gas consumption. Liaoning’s natural gas predicament is merely a microcosm of broader energy structural challenges across Northeast China. As of early 2024, non-fossil energy accounted for only 10% of Northeast China’s primary energy consumption. Fossil fuels—including coal, oil, and natural gas—still dominate the energy mix, underscoring the formidable challenge ahead for energy structural transformation.

Energy Briefing | China Datang Fuxin Coal-to-Gas Project Launches After 10-Year Hiatus; Saudi Aramco Q3 Profit Up Over 20%

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China Datang's Fuxin coal-to-gas project has officially launched after a decade-long suspension, while Saudi Aramco reported over 20% growth in net profit for the first three quarters.

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2026-11-04

Energy Briefing | China Datang Fuxin Coal-to-Gas Project Launches After 10-Year Hiatus; Saudi Aramco Q3 Profit Up Over 20%

Energy Briefing | China Datang Fuxin Coal-to-Gas Project Launches After 10-Year Hiatus; Saudi Aramco Q3 Profit Up Over 20%

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