Po Valley completes Podere Maiar gas plant construction
Sydney-listed Po Valley Energy on May 16 announced the successful completion of its Podere Maiar - 1 (PM-1) gas facility in the Selva Malvezzi production concession, located in the Po Valley region of Italy. The facility is now prepared for commissioning and the delivery of the first gas.
Kevin Bailey, chairman of Po Valley, expressed his satisfaction with the development and construction of the PM-1 gas plant, as well as the successful connections and commercial arrangements with Snam, a major Italian gas infrastructure company.
The completion of the connections and commercial arrangements is a significant step toward delivering PM-1 gas to the Snam grid in Italy, the company said. With these connections and arrangements in place, PM-1 gas can now be supplied under Po Valley’s gas supply agreement, which was announced in February this year.
Under the supply contract, Po Valley will supply gas to BP for 18 months. Po Valley and its joint venture partners will supply an estimated 37,000,000 m3 of gas under the contract. Gas supply price will be linked to Italy’s Heren PSV day ahead mid-price assessment.
Furthermore, the successful completion of Snam connection and transmission arrangements enables Po Valley to initiate the process of recovering the performance bond funds deposited with the Italian company. The total amount involved in this recovery process is €757,000, with €476,910 net to Po Valley.
The initial production of PM-1 gas is subject to the final operation and safety inspection signoff and final approval by Mase (ministry of environment and energy security). Po Valley expects these approvals to be granted before the end of May 2023.
The Selva Malvezzi concession is owned by joint venture partners Po Valley (63%) and Prospex Energy (37%). Po Valley in August 2022 announced it had received firm commitments to raise A$4.5mn ($3.13mn) via a share placement to develop the Podere Maiar gas field.