The world can’t get enough of Helium, that lighter-than-air gas used to fill balloons and to help power microchips, spacecraft and medical scanning technology.
South Africa is about to become the only sub-Saharan African commercial helium producer — one of eight countries in the world that are exporting the gas, according to EngineeringNews.
The global helium market is estimated to be worth $4 billion. Few countries have access to the resource but South Africa has reserves that can cater to around 5 percent of global demand, BusinessInsider reports.
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At the moment, the U.S. and Qatar export 55 percent and 32 percent of global helium demand, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Renergen, a Johannesburg-based alternative and renewable energy investment firm, has commissioned South Africa’s first commercial liquefied natural gas and liquid helium plant in Virginia, a gold mining town in the Free State province, EngineeringNews reports.
In August 2019, Renergen signed a $40 million loan agreement for the project with the U.S. government’s development finance institution, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, according to Gasworld.
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation helps U.S. businesses to invest in emerging markets.
At the moment, roughly 15-20 percent of global demand is met by the U.S. selling off its national reserves, but within two years these are expected to be fully liquidated, with other helium producers becoming more valuable as a result, Moneyweek reports.
The Virginia gas fields, which were discovered in 2016, include an estimated 25 billion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas and helium resources.
Globally, helium demand outstrips supply, and this helium shortage means that the price of the gas will likely continue to rise as demand accelerates.
Helium is mostly consumed by the medical industry for magnetic resonance imagining machines, fiber optics, and electronics such as microchips, as well as in specialized welding applications and spacecraft.
Renergen is expected to begin commercial production of liquid helium by 2021, Fin24 reports.
