The Virginia Gas Plant
Emerging helium and natural gas producer Renergen reports that its Virginia gas project in the Free State has entered operations, a milestone that represents the company’s transition from explorer to producer and the emergence of Virginia as South Africa’s first commercial liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant.
"This watershed moment in the company’s lifecycle has finally arrived,” CEO Stefano Marani said in a statement on September 5.
“This is a significant step on the path to showing the world that Renergen can become a global player in liquid helium supply and a material local supplier of much-needed LNG,” he added, indicating that the Virginia plant’s helium module will produce liquid in due course.
The JSE-listed company said that it had beneficial use of the system and had commenced filling of bulk storage tanks to begin delivery of the product to customers, which intend substituting diesel for gas in trucks to reduce their carbon footprint.
Renergen said it would now focus on ramping up operations over the coming months to full Phase 1 capacity of 2 700 GJ/d of LNG and 350 kg/d of helium.
Phase 1 has involved an investment of $60-million and the helium and LNG to be produced will be supplied to customers in South Africa, including Consol and Italtile.
“Virginia is a world-class project, and we will now focus on ramping up operations to full Phase 1 capacity over the coming months,” Marani said.
The company is also progressing with the far larger Phase 2, which will involve an investment of $900-million, to produce 5 000 kg/d of helium, 24 000 GJ/d of LNG and the development of a 60 MW gas-to-power plant.