- Renergen (RLT) successfully introduces gas to the plant at its Virginia gas project in South Africa
- The main objectives of this milestone was to ensure the plant is safe and complete commissioning and operational tests of various systems
- CEO Stefano Marani says RLT has “worked towards positioning the Virginia gas project as a globally significant LNG and helium producer”
- Renergen will now complete commissioning activities and expects to start commercial operations once customers are ready to accept product
- Company shares are down 3.83 per cent to trade at $3.26 at 10:17 am AEST
Renergen (RLT) has successfully introduced gas to the plant within its Virginia gas project in South Africa.
The “highly anticipated milestone” occurred on Friday, July 8, by opening the main inlet line from the gas gathering system, to the process plant and then to the natural gas filtration and pre-compression system.
Renergen said the two main objectives of introducing gas to the plant was to make sure safety systems could be demonstrated under controlled conditions, before moving into different areas of the plant.
The other goal was to complete commissioning and operational testing of the emergency and operational flare systems, which is the first integrated run between the pipeline system and process plant.
The source of the Virginia project’s natural gas is primarily microbial and reportedly contains one of the richest helium concentrations in the world.
CEO Stefano Marani said this is major milestone has been long-awaited and that he’s proud of the company.
“We have worked towards positioning the Virginia Gas Project as a globally significant LNG and helium producer and we are very close to delivering on this goal,” Mr Marani said.
“Now we know that the plant is safe and critical start-up risks have been addressed, the remaining steps are purely mechanical, which is obviously a major source of relief to everyone.”
Over the next few weeks, Renergen will complete full commissioning activities, with commercial operations starting once customers, primarily the South African transport market, are ready to accept product. The company expects this will happen towards the end of July.
Company shares were down 3.83 per cent to trade at $3.26 at 10:17 am AEST.