Renergen has commissioned South Africa’s first commercial LNG and liquid helium plant.
The emerging domestic natural gas and helium producer today said it has awarded Chinese firm Western Shell Cryogenic Equipment (WSCE) the contract to supply the technology and equipment for its Virginia Gas Project. WSCE will work alongside the project’s previously announced engineering, procurement and contraction (EPC) contractor EPCM Bonisana. Renergen said this was the “final milestone” before construction can commence on phase one of the project. Expected to be operational in the first half of 2021, the plant will produce up to 2,700 giga joules of LNG and 350 kilograms of liquid helium per day. The second phase is currently being planned and potentially involves the inclusion of the helium bearing sandstone trap discovered in the eastern side of the project area, Renergen CEO Stefano Marani told gasworld back in August. “We’ve discovered a sandstone trap in the eastern portion of the field where we are recording helium concentrations of up to 11%,” he said. “That’s contained in sandstone about 300 metres from the surface and has very good porosity and permeability.” “The next phase for us now is to explore that sandstone and determine exactly how much of the helium reserve that we have at this 11% concentration.”