Renergen says its helium production train is now fully operational, allowing for commercial sale of the gas.
After the release of the news, the company’s share price leapt as much as 31%. By market close it had gained the most since May 2020, up more than 25% to R10.75.
It reached a record high of R43.65 in March 2022, before the project ran into some setbacks, which delayed production.
With the helium project successfully under way, the group has established SA as one of the eight countries worldwide capable of producing liquid helium.
The project has also positioned Renergen as SA’s only onshore integrated producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied helium. It owns exploration and production rights for 187,000ha of LNG and helium fields through its Virginia Gas Plant in the Free State.
The plant, of which Renergen has now taken complete operational control, has been producing liquid helium since July 19. Initially, its output was used to cool the plant’s pipelines and storage tank, making it possible to keep stored helium in a liquid state.
During this phase, the plant underwent optimisation efforts to speed up its start-up and cool-down processes, which yielded encouraging results.
“For context, the initial start-up and cool-down of the integrated plant took more than 65 days, while the most recent cool-down was accomplished in just nine days,” Renergen said in a statement on Monday.
The group also said it has had a US helium specialist on-site since July 26, helping to get the plant to optimal performance.
Renergen’s liquid helium will soon be in distribution, with the first iso-container scheduled to arrive later in August for filling.
CEO Stefano Marani said Renergen’s board and executive management took “immense pride” in the achievement, which demonstrates the group’s shared values and commitment.
“Despite the challenges encountered in reaching this milestone, we are thrilled to have achieved this significant development and to commence LHe [liquid helium] sales to our customers,” said Marani.
“Our team has unequivocally demonstrated its capability to manage and operate this facility effectively in the face of challenges and under extreme pressure.”
Helium is a colourless, odourless and non-flammable inert gas. These properties make it uniquely useful in a number of commercial applications, including in the aerospace industry, the semiconductor processing industry and in magnetic resonance imaging machines.
Renergen has long been pursuing liquid helium, having said previously that it would be producing 300kg of liquid helium a day by 2021, before shifting this date to July 2022 and then late 2023.
After these production delays, the company struggled to attract enough backing from large institutional investors. This prompted it to seek a listing on the Nasdaq, where it believes the global helium market is better appreciated. The listing, which was scheduled for 2023, has however been delayed.
Update: August 12 2024
This story has been updated with more information.
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