The liquefied natural gas (LNG) system at emerging helium and natural gas producer Renergen’s Virginia gas plant, in the Free State of South Africa, is complete, with preliminary performance data indicating that the LNG “exceeds design specifications”.

The onsite storage tanks and virtual pipeline tankers are full, the company reports, adding that the Ceramic Industries onsite installation is complete and fully commissioned, while Consol’s site is now cooled down with nitrogen waiting for final commissioning and handover to take place.

“The helium train was tested and all components are working as designed, with the microturbines creating the cooling effect as required.”

During the test, the helium train was supercooled to within near helium liquefaction temperatures before the test had to be paused owing to a utility proving to be unreliable.

The utility in question, Renergen explains, was the conduction oil system providing lubrication and heating to the plant.

“The utility was incorrectly installed and was providing inconsistent heating to the conduction oil, and to ensure no damage would be done to the plant, management decided to turn the plant off to repair the utility in question,” it adds, noting that it has since been corrected, reinstalled, tested and is operating reliably and within specification.

With the plant having been turned off to complete this repair, the company has taken the opportunity to connect additional wells that were recently drilled, which will increase the output of the plant and bring the plant closer to within full design specification.

The process from here is to pressurise the pipeline, prime the utilities and turn on the plant for steady-state production, with LNG starting first and liquid helium turning on thereafter.

The helium module has Renergen’s full attention, the company affirms.

“Fundamentally there is no material difference to where the company was three weeks ago. Had we pushed to continue to helium liquefaction point without pausing the operation, the risk to the plant was significant. “While stopping the plant within hours of producing liquid helium was less than ideal and extremely frustrating to the whole team, and no doubt shareholders too, the decision was the correct one as the risk was simply too high,” CEO Stefano Marani notes.

He adds that this commissioning has “always been about ensuring minimal risk to turn on, not speed”.

“We are fully cognisant of the plant being delayed, but we have been working around the clock to ensure its safe turn on without damaging this critical investment which will operate for the next 20 years at least. Our shareholders’ faith in the team does not go unnoticed, and our primary focus is to deliver a fully functioning plant with the lowest possible risk,” he concludes.