Suitability Site Selection of LNG Refueling Stations along Pinglu Canal Based on GIS and Combination Weighting Method

Abstract

With the official opening of the Pinglu Canal, the core backbone project of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor, the demand for clean energy refueling infrastructure for inland shipping has increased sharply. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), as a low-carbon and efficient ship fuel, has become the main direction for the green transformation of inland shipping. However, the current site selection of LNG refueling stations along inland rivers faces problems such as single evaluation dimension, strong subjectivity in weight determination, and lack of spatial quantitative analysis. To address these issues, this paper constructs a suitability evaluation index system for LNG refueling stations along the Pinglu Canal from four dimensions: waterway and navigation conditions, market demand conditions, resource and infrastructure conditions, and safety and environmental conditions. A combination weighting model integrating Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Entropy Weight Method (EWM) is established to determine the index weights, which effectively balances the subjectivity of expert judgment and the objectivity of data information. Combined with Geographic Information System (GIS) spatial analysis technology, the single-factor raster layers are superimposed and analyzed to obtain the comprehensive suitability distribution map of LNG refueling stations. The results show that the highly suitable areas for LNG refueling stations along the Pinglu Canal are mainly concentrated in the Qinzhou Port section, Luwu Town section and Xijin Reservoir area of Hengzhou, accounting for 4.2%, 2.5% and 2.0% of the total study area respectively (totaling 8.7% of the total region). Finally, 5 optimal alternative sites are proposed, which can provide scientific decision-making basis for the planning and construction of LNG refueling infrastructure along the Pinglu Canal.