Renergen has awarded contracts to three firms to carry out the engineering studies of phase 2 of the Virginia gas project in the Free State, South Africa.
The Virginia gas project involves the development of 1,87,000 hectares of gas fields across Welkom, Virginia, and Theunissen in the Free State, to subsequently produce liquid helium and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the natural gas.
Renergen has awarded the front-end engineering design (FEED) contract to Saipem for the development of the downstream part of the project.
The FEED contract is for the liquid natural gas and liquid helium processing facilities, including the associated balance of plant.
Saipem XSIGHT upstream and LNG product manager Eric Zielinski said: “The FEED contract specifications for Virginia Gas Project fully fits within our strategy of diversification providing innovative ideas for the new energy movement, enabling carbon footprint reductions, and helping to produce a rare and valuable commodity such as helium.
“The technologies developed by Saipem for small to mid-scale natural gas liquefaction plants fully fit for this application, thanks to their flexibility and robustness.”
EPCM awarded FEED contract for gas gathering pipeline
Renergen has given the FEED contract for the development of the phase 2 gas gathering pipeline to EPCM.
The third contractor announced for the Virginia Gas Project phase 2 by the helium and natural gas company is Sproule, which is a consulting and advisory firm.
Sproule has been engaged to evaluate and certify the reserves by taking into account the results of the additional data acquisition and the ongoing drilling campaign.
According to Renergen, the three contracts will eventually help in wrapping up the feasibility studies for phase 2 of the Virginia gas project.
The studies are anticipated to be completed on or around the second quarter of this year with the company looking to take a financial investment decision subsequently.
Renergen managing director and CEO Stefano Marani said: “This is a significant step forward in the planning of Phase 2, as it not only defines the total capital expenditure required but will clearly help define the project’s financial parameters.
“Working with organisations like Saipem, EPCM and Sproule brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and technical capability to the overall project, which we believe will be of great benefit to our stakeholders and the long-term value of the Virginia Gas Project.”
Phase 1 of production at the onshore gas project is slated to come into operation later this year, said Renergen. The company anticipates producing initial volumes of nearly 350kg of helium and 2,500GJ of LNG per day.
The phase 2 of the Virginia gas project covers the design of the facilities that will enable the company to produce considerably larger quantities of LNG and liquid helium.
