Energy and Chemicals group Sasol made announcements on Tuesday that potentially open the way for the coal- and gas-heavy company to begin an energy transition designed to reposition it as a green hydrogen major and a leading global producer of carbon-neutral jet fuel. CEO Fleetwood Grobler announced that Sasol had decided to explore the creation, in partnership, of a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production demonstration facility, based on green hydrogen, at its Secunda operations, in Mpumalanga.
Poultry producer Astral Foods has obtained a High Court order against government and the National Treasury over the nondelivery of basic water and electricity supply services within the Lekwa (Standerton) municipality. In terms of the Order issued on April 12, government will be required to intervene in the Lekwa municipality and, together with Treasury, wprepare a financial recovery plan, as contemplated in the Municipal Finance Management Act.
The Solar Impulse Foundation has officially reached the goal of assigning the Efficient Solutions Label to 1 000 profitable cleantech solutions from around the world and the list includes eight South African solutions, reports economically viable green economy solutions nonprofit organisation GreenCape. The Solar Impulse 1 000 Efficient Solution Label is designed to showcase existing solutions that are both clean and profitable and have a positive impact on quality of life.
The advantages of green hydrogen technology to meet South Africa’s goals of transitioning to a lower carbon energy sector appear “uncontested”, says law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr (CDH). To qualify as a form of clean energy technology (one that does not contribute to greenhouse-gas emissions and climate change), the electricity used in the electrolysis process of making hydrogen must be derived from renewable energy technology – thereby creating so-called “green hydrogen”.
Sasol and Air Liquide have formally announced plans to jointly procure 900 MW of renewable-energy capacity from independent power producers (IPPs) by 2030 and have issued a request for proposal (RFP) through which they aim to procure an initial 600 MW this year. The transaction, the companies said in a statement, represented the largest renewable-energy procurement deal from the private sector in South Africa and the renewable electricity generated by the IPPs would supply Sasol’s operations in Secunda, Mpumalanga.