As part of South Africa’s push towards renewable energy, the Central Energy Fund (CEF) will invest 1 billion rands into the Virginia gas project in the country’s Free State region. This is coming as the CEF acquires 10% of Tetra4, the Renergen subsidiary that owns and operates the gas project in Welkom, Virginia as well as Theunissen.
The Virginia Gas Project is South Africa’s only onshore petroleum plant which comprises exploration and production rights of 187 000 hectares of gas fields across Welkom, Virginia and Theunissen.
According to Renergen’s previous estimates, the helium reserves in its Virginia plants is as large as 9.74 billion cubic meters, more than US volumes. This is in addition to extensive methane reserves found there.
“Renergen and the CEF’s relationship goes back many years. Importantly, during this time Renergen has successfully grown Virginia in size and scale, highlighted by the growth both of our helium and methane reserves, which have finally reached the critical mass to enjoy CEF’s involvement,” CEO Stefano Marani said on Monday.
He further added “Today’s investment commitment is a result of long-term discussions between CEF and Renergen and during this time the CEF team have been amazing to deal with and I am very pleased to be able to welcome them as a major investor in our future. I along with the Renergen Board and management team look forward to building on the strong strategic partnership with CEF as we embark on Phase 1 operations in April and established Virginia as a significant domestic and global gas producer.
The Central Energy Fund has been playing a major part in securing South Africa’s energy future. It released a tender last month, looking for a gas aggregator to help secure liquified natural gas (LNG) for various gas-to-power projects planned for the Coega special economic zone in the Eastern Cape.