Sasol and Air Liquide are inviting bidders to participate in a Request for Proposal (RFP) process for the supply of renewable energy to Sasol’s South African operations.

An international integrated chemicals and energy company, Sasol’s core business is leveraging technologies and the expertise of its people to build and operate world-scale facilities to produce a range of high-value product streams, including liquid fuels, chemicals and low-carbon electricity. The company’s largest operations are in South Africa specifically Secunda in Mpumalanga and Sasolburg in the Free State.

As communicated to the market, Sasol has set a greenhouse gas (GHG) target for our South African operations to reduce emissions by at least 10%, off a 2017 baseline, by 2030. The introduction of renewable energy will be a significant contributor to our decarbonisation efforts.

Subsequent to setting the 2030 target, Sasol entered into an agreement with Air Liquide for the sale of the Air Separation Units (ASUs) at the Secunda site. Air Liquide also committed to GHG emission reduction interventions over and above those committed by Sasol.

“Due to the highly integrated nature of the Secunda site and the footprint associated with the ASUs, collaboration between the companies is necessary to ensure optimal GHG reduction benefits,” said Lebelo Lukhele, Chief Procurement Officer: Energy Business.

“It is anticipated that a collaborative approach will not only result in the original Sasol commitment for the Secunda site being met, but will also be exceeded through the combined efforts.”

As a result of the sale and the collaborative decarbonisation approach, both companies will now jointly procure 900MW of renewable energy by 2030, with an end state allocation of 500MW to Sasol and 400MW to Air Liquide, significantly increased from Sasol’s originally intended 600MW. This transaction will represent the largest renewable energy procurement deal from the private sector in South Africa and is testimony to the opportunities that emanate from partnering.

“We are targeting the procurement of the first 600MW of capacity this year [around 1800 GWh per year] of which 400MW will be allocated to Air Liquide and 200MW to Sasol, with the envisaged commercial operation dates commencing in 2023,” added Lukhele.

It is envisaged that the successful bidder(s) will supply energy as Independent Power Producer(s), in terms of Power Purchase Agreement(s) to be agreed between the parties.
Source: Sasol

In aligning with the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP 2019), Wind and Solar Photovoltaic (PV) technologies are favoured for the first tranche of the programme. The individual projects must demonstrate a generation capacity of at least 70MW [~200 GWh per yea