OREANDA-NEWS. February 05, 2014. China is expected to start sending liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Kinmen County next year under an agreement signed on Friday, making LNG the second natural resource after water to be provided to the island chain by China.

Under the cooperation framework agreement signed in Kinmen, the Chinese-controlled Fujian Province subsidiary of the state-run China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) will ship LNG to a depot in Kinmen, where it will be gasified and distributed initially to industrial companies, including the county’s cash cow, Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor Inc.

At a later stage, a supply of up to 100,000 tonnes of LNG per year will be provided to power plants and households.

The agreement was signed between CNOOC’S subsidiary and Taiwan’s Shinfox Co Ltd, a Taipei-based power management company that belongs to Taiwanese tycoon Terry Gou’s Foxconn Group.

Environmental Protection Administration Minister Stephen Shen said the cooperation is helpful to Taiwan’s efforts in making Kinmen a low-carbon county focusing on tourism.

Shen was in Kinmen to witness the signing of the agreement.

Although a type of fossil fuel, LNG is relatively low-cost and less polluting, producing about 20 percent less carbon dioxide than coal or fuel oil.

In addition to LNG, Kinmen will get water from Fujian Province starting next year.

Fujian is the nearest Chinese province to Kinmen, located about 2km away.

The Kinmen County Government expects a formal contract to be signed with the Chinese side by the middle of this year, with the pipeline to be completed two years later, Kinmen Country Commissioner Li Wo-shi said recently.

The county has a population of more than 120,000.