French energy company Total Energies has signed two corporate projects to provide Sasol and Air Liquide with 260MW of renewable energy.
BusinessTech Africa understands that the deal will go on for over two decades as the company also announced it would develop q 120MW solar plant in Western Cape.
Total Energies also said it will build a 140 MW wind farm in to supply around 850 GWh of green electricity per year to Sasol’s Secunda site in Mpumalanga.
This is where Air Liquide operates the own biggest oxygen production site in the world.
The Power Purchase Agreements with Sasol and Air Liquide have been signed with a consortium comprised of TotalEnergies Marketing South Africa (70%), renewable energy developer Mulilo (17%), and a to-be-announced B-BBEE partner (13%).
News24 Business has it that the two projects are subject to regulatory approvals and are expected to be operational in 2025.
“The PPAs signal progress in Sasol’s plans to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its South African operations by at least 30% by 2030, off a 2017 baseline,” it reports.
“Sasol is the largest emitter of GHG in South Africa after Eskom, and its Secunda plant is currently the largest single-site emitter of GHG globally.
“Sasol and Air Liquide have committed to a joint initiative to procure a whopping 1 200MW of renewable energy capacity by 2030. In January, the two announced their joint signing of two long-term PPAs with Enel Green Power for a 220MW wind project to supply Secunda.”
Furthermore, TotalEnergies said the agreements demonstrate its positioning to contribute to the evolution of the energy mix in South Africa and noted the projects would directly impact the local community through job creation.
According to Vincent Stoquart, who is a senior Vice president, Renewables at TotalEnergies said power generation in South Africa is still 80% based on coal, and power cuts occur daily.
“With these developments, we are proud to support Air Liquide and Sasol for their supply of green electricity,” said Stoquart.
“Meanwhile, we are pleased to contribute to South Africa’s energy transition, which consists of increasing its share of renewables and gas as an alternative to coal.”
