Air Liquide, Sasol to use renewable energy at Secunda, South Africa

PARIS, FRANCE: Air Liquide and Sasol have signed two Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) with Enel Green Power for the long-term supply of a total capacity of 220 MW of renewable power to Sasol’s Secunda site, in South Africa, where Air Liquide operates the biggest oxygen production site in the world.

These PPAs are the first results of the Request for Proposal (RFP) process launched jointly by Air Liquide and Sasol in April, 2021, for the procurement of a total capacity of 900 MW of renewable energy.

They will significantly contribute to the decarbonization of the Secunda site, and in particular to the targeted reduction by 30 percent to 40 percent of the CO2 emissions associated with the oxygen production by 2031.

Within the framework of these agreements with Air Liquide and Sasol, two local majority owned wind projects will be created by Enel Green Power, the Enel Group subsidiary dedicated to the development and management of power generated from renewable resources worldwide. The 220 MW wind powered renewable electricity production capacity is scheduled to be operational in 2025.

“By signing these long-term PPAs with Enel Green Power, Air Liquide and Sasol actively support the development of renewable energies in South Africa, for the benefit of the South African electrical power system and the fight against global warming. This will also contribute to the South African social transformation and a “Just Transition”, and more generally to South Africa’s economy and environment,” said Ronnie Chalmers, Vice President and Executive Committee Member, Air Liquide Group, in charge of Africa Middle East & India.

“Sasol and Air Liquide’s efforts to procure a total of 900 MW of renewable energy to decarbonise our respective operations at Secunda is another step towards Sasol’s aim to procure 1.200 MW of renewable energy capacity from IPPs by 2030, representing one of the largest renewable energy procurement programmes from the private sector in South Africa. Sasol’s Renewable Energy Programme is aligned to the government’s REIPPP programme and plays a key role in creating alternative sources of energy for grid expansion to address South Africa’s current energy capacity constraints,” said Priscillah Mabelane, Executive Vice President of Sasol’s Energy Business.

In April 2021, Air Liquide and Sasol launched the largest corporate effort in South Africa to procure a total of 900 MW of renewable energy for their operations in Secunda, with an allocation of 500 MW to Sasol and 400 MW to Air Liquide. The two companies are negotiating with the remaining preferred bidders to this RFP to complete the balance of the renewable energy requested within the coming months.

Air Liquide acquired Sasol’s 16 oxygen production units in Secunda and has been operating them since June 2021, in the framework of a long-term supply contract with its long-term partner. Including another Air Separation Unit (ASU) it already operated for Sasol, Air Liquide thus now operates a total of 17 ASUs in Secunda, with a total capacity of 47,000 tonnes/day of oxygen.

Air Liquide plans to reduce by 30 to 40 percent CO2 emissions (Scope 2) arising from its operations on the Secunda site through a multi-year investment and modernization plan and a steep increase of the site’s procurement in renewable energies.