You need electricity to run what is basically a giant refrigerator to liquefy LNG. Gas turbines are an easy way of doing it since you are close to a gas pipe as it is. Giant aviation turbines are a relatively cheap solution. Using more smaller aviation turbines would be somewhat more expensive but still feasible. The Baker Hughes gas turbines have 35 MW of power. But Russia can manufacture such turbines of 25 MW in power. And China can make 30 MW gas turbines based on naval engines.
The Chinese gas turbines are just cheaper. It is as simple as that.
The Russians could use gas turbines of their own make such as the AL-41ST-25 or GTE-25 if it came to it. It would just cost more since it would take more turbines.
Instead of 24x of those 35 MW Baker Hughes gas turbines you would need 28x of the Chinese gas turbines or 34x Russian gas turbines.
It would not be particularly hard to manufacture such gas turbines for Russian industry. Just think about it. The AL-41ST-25 for example is based on the AL-41 engine as used in the Su-35 and Su-57. 34x gas turbines is basically the same amount of engines as in 17x fighter aircraft. Easily doable. The GTE-25 is based on the PS-90 engine that is used in the Il-76MD-90A aircraft. 34x gas turbines is the same amount of engines as in 9x Il-76.
I would also be possible to use other power generation sources like large stationary gas turbines used in power stations. It is just that right now production of such turbines in Russia is still experimental. But they have 65MW (Ladoga), 110MW (GTD-110M), and 170MW (GTE-170) gas turbines already produced in prototype fashion.
Another option would be using a nuclear reactor to power the site. The Russians are one of the world leaders in nuclear power and they could do it.
It is just that those two last options would delay the project and Novatek is not interested in major delays.
If the stock market actually reflected reality the shares should rise in two years time after SMIC finishes its fab construction ramp up and stops hemorrhaging cash from capital expenditures. But the stock market is not rational.
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