A new mixed solar and wind plant to reduce dependence on coal in the production of electricity

Industrial production in South Africa , in addition to civilian needs, requires ever greater availability of electricity, which the country must supply by burning, mainly coal.

South Africa is still approximately 80% dependent on coal for electricity generation and fails to have an efficient supply system, so much so that power outages are the order of the day.

Another aspect to consider is the high pollution that is produced by burning coal, although it has been, until now, a difficult choice, by the government,  that of reducing the use of a locally produced raw material.

Furthermore, coal has a very heavy water cost: over 10,000 liters of water are needed for extraction for each ton extracted.

For these reasons, the companies Sasol and Air Liquid Large Industries South Africa have signed a Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (CPPA) with TotalEnergies for the supply of 260 MW of renewable electricity over 20 years.

TotalEnergies will develop a 120 MW solar farm and a 140 MW wind farm in the Western Cape province to supply approximately 850 GWh of green electricity per year to the Secunda di Sasol site, located 700 kilometers further north-east, where Air Liquide operates the largest oxygen production site in the world.

The two projects will provide competitive and available renewable electricity to decarbonise the production of Sasol and Air Liquide.

These agreements demonstrate TotalEnergies' position to contribute to the evolution of the energy mix in South Africa. The projects will have a direct impact on the local community through the creation of jobs.

“Power generation in South Africa is still 80% coal based and power outages occur daily . With these developments we are proud to support Air Liquide and Sasol in their supply of green electricity.

In the meantime, we are delighted to contribute to South Africa's energy transition, which is to increase its share of renewable energy and gas as an alternative to coal” said Vincent Stoquart, Senior Vice President, Renewables of TotalEnergies.

"There is a dynamic market for corporate PPAs in South Africa and we want TotalEnergies to take a strong leadership position ".

The two projects should be operational in 2025. The CPPAs with SASOL and Air Liquide were signed with a consortium of TotalEnergies Marketing South Africa 1 (70%), its partner Mulilo (17%) and a B- Partner BBEE (13%).

Machine translation. We apologize for any inaccuracies. Original article in Italian

Info: TotalEnergies