https://www.engineeringnews.co.za
Business|Coal|Construction|Energy|Engineering|Flow|Gas|Installation|LNG|PROJECT|Renewable Energy|Technology|transport|Flow|Infrastructure
Business|Coal|Construction|Energy|Engineering|Flow|Gas|Installation|LNG|PROJECT|Renewable Energy|Technology|transport|Flow|Infrastructure
business|coal|construction|energy|engineering|flow-company|gas|installation|lng|project|renewable-energy|technology|transport|flow-industry-term|infrastructure

US government agency’s backing of Tetra4 takes project ‘to next level’ – Renergen CEO

27th February 2019

By: Simone Liedtke

Creamer Media Social Media Editor & Senior Writer

     

Font size: - +

Integrated alternative and renewable energy business Renergen on Wednesday announced that the US government’s development finance institution, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), had approved a $40-million loan facility in favour of Tetra4’s Virginia gasfield project.

Tetra4 is a Renergen subsidiary.

The funds from the loan facility, which has a 12-year term and a 30-month grace period, will be used to finance the construction of a pipeline to join all the wells to a single processing facility, as well as the construction of a natural gas liquefier to produce liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Funds will also be used to build a helium liquefier to cool the helium to a liquid for ease of transport.

The plant is expected to reach commercial production by early 2021, Renergen CEO Stefano Marani told Engineering News Online. Construction is expected to start within the first half of this year.

According to Marani, the loan facility will bring the plant into operation and generate cash flow.

“We envisage only two phases, the second being the commercialisation of the sandstone field identified within our production right,” he said.

Renergen is unable to quantify the magnitude of this find at the moment, considering that the concentrations of helium at 11% are “well beyond the global average” of 0.5%, Marani added.

“We have a good working model on the origin of the helium, but we need to do further work to confirm the validity of the model before we define the size of the investment in Phase 2.”

The development of this infrastructure is aligned to the South African government’s Gas Utilisation Master Plan, which aims to increase natural gas use and reduce the country’s reliance on coal and diesel imports.

OPIC’s funding, Marani noted, is a recognition of the importance of alternative and cleaner energy sources, but also the high development impact of the project, which are both key OPIC’s objectives.

“OPIC’s endorsement of the Tetra4 project is symbolic of how far this project has progressed and the state to which it has been de-risked, and significant for a number of additional reasons,” Marani said in a statement on Wednesday.

Of these reasons, he elaborated that it would result in meaningful foreign direct investment into South Africa, while also introducing LNG to the domestic market; it would result in the installation of the first liquid helium processing technology in the country; and it would have a positive balance of payments effect by displacing current imports of diesel and helium and by enhancing helium exports.

Additionally, the endorsement of the Tetra4 project is expected to result in cost efficiencies for current users of diesel fuel as they switch to LNG.

“We are proud to be playing an important role in advancing the development of alternative energy sources in the country, while simultaneously contributing towards the country’s economic development.

“Through OPIC’s funding, we are well positioned to take the Tetra4 project to the next level and start realising the growth potential of this world-class deposit for the benefit of all stakeholders,” Marani stated. 

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

Comments

Showroom

Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East
Weir Minerals Africa and Middle East

Weir Minerals Europe, Middle East and Africa is a global supplier of excellent minerals solutions, including pumps, valves, hydrocyclones,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Rentech
Rentech

Rentech provides renewable energy products and services to the local and selected African markets. Supplying inverters, lithium and lead-acid...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.134 0.194s - 165pq - 4rq
Subscribe Now