A South African energy company, Renergen, has awarded preferred bidder status for the Phase 2 expansion of its Tetra4 commercial liquefied natural gas (LNG) and helium project to the He4u consortium.
The Virginia Gas Project, located near Virginia in South Africa’s Free State province, is the country’s first LNG and helium production facility, the company says. Operated by Renergen’s Tetra4 subsidiary, the plant extracts natural gas from onshore wells, separates helium and processes both gases into cryogenic liquid form for transport and sale.
The He4u consortium includes Chart Industries, WBHO and Aurex Constructors. The contract scope covers engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of large-scale helium and LNG processing infrastructure, including the cryogenic liquefaction systems, gas separation units, control instrumentation, civil and mechanical works, and pipeline integration. Chart Industries will deliver the proprietary liquefaction technology for both gases while WBHO and Aurex will manage site development, structural works, fabrication and electrical and instrumentation installation. The entire project will be delivered on a turnkey basis with Worley as owner’s engineer overseeing quality and execution.
The EPC appointment follows recent technical and regulatory milestones in advancing Phase 2 of the Virginia Gas Project. Earlier in June, Renergen named Saipem, EPCM Holdings and Sproule as the companies conducting front-end engineering design studies for the LNG and helium facilities, including processing infrastructure, pipeline networks and reserve assessments. This progress comes amid strengthened regulatory certainty after the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources dismissed an appeal challenging Renergen’s helium extraction rights, said Stefano Marani, CEO of Renergen.
ASP Isotopes announced its intention to buy Renergen in May but the deal is still subject to customary approval steps before it can go ahead.
