South Africa’s ever-increasing
transport logistics costs.
This is according to Nick
Mitchell, COO of Renergen,
an integrated alternative and
renewable energy business that
owns the country’s first and
only onshore
gas production
licence.
Mitchell
told FTW
they believed
gas could
be a game
changer and
was already
proving to be
an efficient
solution in the
bus industry.
“There is no
reason why gas
cannot transform the trucking
industry as well,” he said.
With the majority of South
Africa’s cargo on road, fuel
costs remain the biggest
contributor to the country’s
high logistics costs.
According to Mitchell gas
offers an opportunity to reduce
this cost.
“We have walked the road
many still fear to tread,” he
told delegates at an oil and gas
conference in Cape Town last
week.
He said the company was
set for huge expansion, having
just secured a
R218-million
loan from the
Industrial
Development
Corporation
(IDC) – and
lobbying the
truck market
to switch to gas
was high on the
agenda.
Thirteen gas
wells make up
Tetra4 which
is situated near
the town of Welkom in the
Free State. The plant has been
operational since 2016 and
with its new loan in hand is
set for major expansion. A new
107km underground pipeline
will be funded with the loan.
Construction is expected to
start before the end of the year.
Mitchell said this pipeline
would join all the existing
wells, taking the gas to a
central processing facility
from where it would be
distributed to market.
“Currently a gas-operated
fleet has to be home based
as there is no infrastructure
countrywide to refuel on gas.
You would need bespoke gas
filling stations for vehicles
using only gas,” said Mitchell.
Whilst discussions around
delivering gas as fuel across
South Africa are still in their
early stages, Mitchell said
a duel fuel model was also
possible. “A small modification
on a truck will allow it to
run on both diesel and gas
intermittently. If the gas is
finished it just switches over
to diesel.”
Mitchell said being a
producer of low-cost gas
that was of exceptionally
high standard had saved
customers operating off Tetra
4 gas significantly on the cost
of fuel.
A small modification
on a truck will
allow it to run on
both diesel and gas
intermittently.
– Nick Mitchell
