Helium
Helium is a strategic and highly sought-after resource.
Its extreme rarity on earth and its unique physico-chemical properties make it a highly-sought resource which is vital for various industries.Â
Why Helium is a strategic resource?
A restricted number
of production sites
Helium production sites are limited and concentrated in a minority of countries, particularly in the United States, Qatar, Algeria, Australia, Russia and Poland.
Uses booming
Helium is a key resource essential for many industries, such as new technologies. The number of uses keeps increasing every day!
Unequally distributed production
The places of consumption do not match with production areas. As a result, Western Europe imports all its helium needs at high energy costs.
No effective substitute
Helium has unique properties that most of users have so far not been able to substitute.
Unsustainable synthesis
Helium synthesis is possible but complex and inefficient to represent a viable alternative.
Dependency to natural gas
The majority of helium reserves, mostly discovered by chance, are a by-product of natural gas fields.
Helium in figures
The worldwide helium market
Consommation
No Data Found
Production
No Data Found
Helium price (€/m³)
No Data Found
Source: IHS Markit
helium physical properties
Helium is an environmentally friendly gas that does not participate in greenhouse effect and has unique and exceptional physical properties.
It does not react and does not alter the material with which it is in contact.
More than air and therefore the ideal gas for lifting airships and festive balloons.
This property makes it very effective for deep-sea diving.
This gives it the quality of excellent cooler, especially for medical MRIs, cryogenics or superconducting magnets.
It can be produced and used safely whatever is the context.
It is a neutral gas that can be used for many applications without any risk.
It is a tiny molecule that escapes through any crack, making it ideal for leak detection.
helium uses
Often unkown, they are multiple ways of using helium.
why 45-8 ENERGY has selected germany?
Through the Guhlen project, it is a substantial opportunity for 45-8 ENERGY to supply strategic resources to the high-demand area of the eastern part of Germany, while contributing to the energy and environmental transition. The Guhlen project is a first step for the company in the area, and it will accelerate in parallel the deployment of a regional exploration aiming to unlock the significant helium potential of this geological province.
45-8 ENERGY supply chain vision
The current and future projects in Germany are fully in line with our policy and positioning to supply resources locally with short and low-carbon supply chains. To limit the carbon footprint while supplying a tense market, we are targeting local markets of the eastern part of Germany to limit transportation distances and get rid off liquefaction which is energy-intensive and paradoxical for helium as most of the uses are at gaseous state.
Today's Helium supply chain in Europe
45-8 ENERGY Helium supply chain model
