Renergen General Discussion, page-980

Hot off the press - a healthy leap forward for Renergen

Strategic status awarded to Renergen's Virginia Gas Project by the SA government

Renergen is pleased to announce that the Virginia Gas Project's Phase 2 is now a Strategic Integrated Project (SIP) under the Infrastructure Development Act (Act No. 23 of 2014) (IDA) and its amendments, gazetted by Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia De Lille on 6 December 2022.

Benefits related to SIP status include processes relating to any application for approval, authorization, license, permission, or exemption, and processes relating to any consultation and participation required by the relevant laws must, as far as possible, run concurrently. Timeframes for authorizations, licenses, permissions, and/or exemptions are reduced significantly towards a targeted 57-day time frame for approval outside of time frames stipulated for public consultation processes.

"This is a really big step in the right direction for the Company. Being declared a SIP has many benefits, as it means the project now falls into the country's strategic planning and significantly reduces approval times for all the licenses and regulatory approvals required for the development of Phase 2, including Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and water use license, to name a few. Being declared a SIP is hardly an easy feat, and we are excited to see the Virginia Gas Project integrate with the national planning of significant domestic energy insecurity at this time. We are grateful to the South African government for the excellent collaboration to achieve this milestone," said Stefano Marani, CEO.

The Virginia Gas Project now falls under the Oil and Gas National Program. It forms part of the Energy Strategic Integrated Project No. 20f. This project, together with any of its associated infrastructure such as, but not limited to, access roads, pipelines, substations, and overhead power lines, are regarded as Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs) to be expedited in terms of Schedule 2 (Section 17(2)) of the Infrastructure Development Act (Act No. 23 of 2014).

Phase 2 of the Virginia Gas Project will produce 34,000 GJ of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and up to 5000 kg of helium per day, which will be prioritized for implementation and can follow an expedited path to delivery with reduced time frames for regulatory processes. While there were minimal delays and impacts concerning regulatory approvals for our Phase 1 plant, this status will accelerate the approvals for our Phase 2 project, with the period for the relevant authority to consider, assess and make final regulatory decisions.

The IDA provides that a SIP means a public infrastructure project or group of projects that are of significant economic importance, may contribute substantially to the national strategy relating to infrastructure, or are of a high enough value to be determined strategic to the country.