Renergen overcomes technical challenges to achieve maiden liquid helium sale

Speciality gas developer Renergen (ASX: RLT) has hit a major milestone with the maiden sale of liquid helium from its Virginia gas project in South Africa.

The company was forced to inform shareholders in February that it had not entered business rescue discussions after questions were raised over issues surrounding its helium production and a legal dispute with a neighbour.

Those challenges have caused the company’s share price to plunge by almost half over the past 12 months—today’s sales news has seen it rebound by 5% in morning trade.

Hurdles overcome

The prominent South African energy company has now solved one of the outstanding issues after completing the long-awaited filling of a helium container with liquid and having it collected by a customer.

Chief executive officer Stefano Marani said the company had recently implemented an effective alternative solution to overcome the challenges of integrating large iso-containers to the extreme temperature needed for liquid helium storage.

Renergen now utilises smaller Dewar containers – which have a capacity of between 250 and 500 litres – that Mr Marani said it will continue to use until its plant moves closer to nameplate capacity.

“Our operations team has poured their hearts and souls into overcoming these technical challenges [and] successfully managing cryogenic liquid at -269 degrees Celsius is a remarkable accomplishment achieved by very few companies worldwide.”

Exceeding minimum specifications

Mr Marani said the quality of both its LNG and liquid helium now exceeds minimum design specifications.

“This achievement represents a concrete step toward rebuilding the trust placed in us—a commitment we take seriously,” he said.

“We remain committed to restoring confidence through consistent delivery and performance as we continue to advance the Virginia gas project.”

The company is also confident that it will be successful in its legal appeal against the neighbouring Springbok solar project’s move to commence construction within its petroleum production right.