Cold Chain

South Africa: Renergen pioneers cold storage solution for coronavirus vaccine transport

By David Whitehouse

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Posted on June 3, 2021 14:44

Stefano Marani, CEO of Renergen, speaks during the media launch of Renergen’s working prototype cold-chain storage called Cryo-Vacc, in Johannesburg
Stefano Marani, CEO of Renergen. REUTERS/Sumaya Hisham

South Africa’s emerging natural gas and helium producer Renergen is branching out into cold storage solutions for covid vaccine transportation.

The company’s Cryo-Vacc innovations have the potential to make a contribution to the company’s bottom line, CEO Stefano Marani tells The Africa Report. While it’s too early to judge how much Cryo-Vacc can add to profit, the patented invention “has the potential to be quite material in the near future,” Marani says in Johannesburg.

Getting sufficient Covid-19 doses for Africa is only part of the problem. The need for vaccines, such as that developed by Pfizer, to be stored at ultra-low temperatures creates a major logistical problem, especially in moving the vaccines to rural areas.

Marani drew up the Cryo-Vacc concept, which was then put into practice by the company’s engineering team. Vaccines can be stored at -70°C for up to 25 days, and during that time, they are completely mobile. No electricity is needed. The solution exists in two forms. Liquid nitrogen is used for ground-based

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