NANJING -- The main structure of China's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage base under construction was completed Thursday in East China's Jiangsu province as the last super-sized storage tank was capped.

Located in the city of Yancheng, the base boasts a total storage capacity of 2.5 million cubic meters, with six LNG storage tanks each having a capacity of 270,000 cubic meters and the remaining four holding 220,000 cubic meters each.

The roof of the LNG storage tank, about the size of a football field and weighing 1,200 metric tons, was lifted more than 60 meters to the top using air pressure, according to the builder China Construction Electric Power Construction Co Ltd.

The storage base, scheduled to be put into full operation in 2023, will be able to handle around 6 million tons of LNG annually, equal to about 8.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas. It has the capacity to meet the residential demand of Jiangsu province, which has a population of around 85 million, for 28 months.

The base's capacity is sufficient to cut about 28.5 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions by every year, which is equivalent to planting 60 million trees.