Moneyweb reports that Renergen, South African company listed on the JSE, has started delivering the country’s first domestically produced, commercial liquefied natural gas (LNG) – to Ardagh Glass Packaging, previously Consol Glass, and Italtile subsidiary Ceramic Industries – as part of the first phase of its Virginia Gas Project.

According to the report, the company said the LNG will replace LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) at Ardagh Glass’s Bellville operation in the Western Cape and will supplement the pipeline of natural gas supply at Ceramic Industries’ Vanderbijlpark operations. Five-year contracts were signed with both companies. Both companies will use LNG as a fuel heat source for their processing plants.

By using gas instead of electricity to produce heat, the companies assist Eskom by reducing demand and ultimately help to keep load shedding to lower stages.