Renergen starts selling helium

After years of missed deadlines and unfulfilled promises, Renergen announced today that it has begun commercial liquid helium sales.

The energy company informed shareholders on Friday, 14 March 2025, that the long-awaited event of filling a helium container with liquid has now taken place. 

“It is being collected by the customer today,” the company said. It did not specify who the customer is.

The company said this comes after it faced challenges cooling large iso-containers to the extreme temperatures needed for liquid helium storage.

Renergen said it has now implemented an effective alternate solution, whereby it will now regularly fill smaller Dewars of between 250 and 500 litres with liquid helium. 

“This practical approach will continue until our plant reaches closer to nameplate capacity,” it said.

Renergen’s team began cooling the vessel on the Thursday, 13 March, at 9:00 and completed the fill in the mid-afternoon.

“The quality of both our LNG and liquid helium now exceeds minimum design specifications,” the company said.

“We remain committed to increasing production and developing the Virginia Gas Project to its full potential.”

CEO Stefano Marani said this achievement represents a concrete step toward rebuilding the trust placed in his company – “a commitment we take seriously”. 

“Our operations team has poured their hearts and souls into overcoming these technical challenges,” he said. 

“Successfully managing cryogenic liquid at -269 degrees Celsius is a remarkable accomplishment achieved by very few companies worldwide.” 

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

This announcement comes after years of Renergen setting and missing deadlines to sell and produce helium.

Renergen was listed on the JSE in June 2015, promoting itself as a company focusing on alternative energy solutions.

Its main asset is the Virginia Gas Project, which the company said could produce large quantities of liquid natural gas and liquid helium.

Renergen told investors it would generate 52 tonnes of LNG and 400 kg of helium per day from phase 1 of the project. 

However, this did not materialise, and the company moved on to phase 2 in March 2020.

Although the company has produced and sold some liquid natural gas, today is the first day it has announced helium sales.

While it has sold liquid natural gas, the company has yet to show that it can do so profitably.

Renergen’s results for the six months ended 31 August 2024 showed that revenue increased by 8% to R25.61 million.

However, its costs increased by 90%, and its gross profit plummeted, falling from R10.76 million to R882,000.

The company’s operating loss deepened to R65.13 million, while its total loss for the period deepened by 63% to R70.71 million.

For the six months through August 2024, Renergen recorded its biggest loss before tax, R85 million, which was over three times greater than its revenue for the period.

Therefore, it remains to be seen whether the commencement of selling liquid helium will improve Renergen’s financial position, although it is a step in the right direction.

The company’s share price rose unexpectedly by over 30% on Wednesday, 12 March, indicating that news of this liquid helium sale may have leaked.

The company is also listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, where it released a market announcement about the commencement of helium sales on Thursday, 14 March, at 8:19.

Renergen published a statement regarding the helium sales on Global News Wire on Thursday, 13 March 2025, ahead of its announcement on SENS.