Beijing Gas, Snam To Cooperate on Storage

Italian national gas grid operator Snam said October 25 it signed an agreement with Beijing Gas.

The memorandum of understanding with China’s largest natural gas distributor and supplier was signed on the sidelines of the International Gas Union (IGU) Council in Venice, said Snam.

Beijing Gas has a network of 22,000 km with more than 6mn customers.

The two companies will look at opportunities to collaborate in China, particularly in biomethane and natural gas storage, according to the agreement which was signed by Snam CEO Marco Alvera and Li Yalan, Beijing Gas board chairwoman.

Snam is 30.4%-owned by CDP Reti, a joint venture of Italian state-run bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and State Grid Corporation of China that also owns a roughly 30% stake in stake in Italian national power grid Terna. Chinese state companies also have significant interests in UK, Portuguese and Spanish energy infrastructure operators.