US firm to power Kazakh section of Asian Gas Pipeline

US construction and mining equipment producer Caterpillar will power Kazakhstan’s section of the planned regional 800-mile Asian Gas Pipeline that will pump Central Asian supplies to energy-hungry China, the corporation said.
Caterpillar will provide six G3516C gas generator sets proving 1,944 kVA to power gas compression stations.

“By lowering fuel consumption and increasing workforce efficiencies, the [G3516C] engine is able to increase the intervals between maintenance and lower overall operating costs,” Caterpillar Global Petroleum sales manager Jonathan Scholefield was quoted as saying. It will also provide two emergency backup C18 generator sets for the compression stations along the pipeline, a joint venture between Kazakhstan and China.

Although the Asian Gas Pipeline will be the region’s largest pipeline construction project, it is only expected to provide 2 % of the needs of Far Eastern energy-hungry giant China.
The pipeline will pump 30 bn cm of natural gas from Turkmenistan to China each year and another 10 bn cm from Kazakhstan.

The project, begun in 2008, is slated for completion by early 2014. It will stretch 4,000 miles from Turkmenistan to southern China, passing through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
Caterpillar Global Petroleum has been operating in Kazakhstan for several decades, the company said.