Wedoany.com Report-Oct 14, A 69-megawatt wind power generation project in Bedford, Eastern Cape, has gone online and begun delivery for Sasol Ltd., which has fully contracted the farm’s output.
The Msenge Emoyeni Wind Farm launched commercial operations with the maiden transmission to Sasol’ s Sasolburg chemicals and power production site, Johannesburg-based Sasol said in a press release. Msenge has become the first operational renewable energy project contracted by Sasol under its power procurement plan for green hydrogen production.
Msenge Emoyeni Wind Farm (Pty.) Ltd. is a joint venture of African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) and Reatile Renewables (Pty.) Ltd. AIIM owns 62 percent equity in the joint venture while Reatile holds the remaining 38 percent. The onshore project consists of 16 turbines.
Last year Sasol and the owners signed a “long-term contract” as part of the former’s plan to secure power for green hydrogen production. Announcing the startup, Sasol said it has so far secured 757 MW through power purchase agreements.
“Completed within 18 months, Msenge is one of the fastest constructed renewable energy projects, leveraging the deep expertise of the consortium and broadening local experience in developing and executing large-scale renewable power generation”, Sasol said in the statement on its website.
Sasol chief executive Simon Baloyi said of the development, “It is a tangible step, as one of the largest private procurers of renewable energy in South Africa, [sic] in contributing to reducing Sasol’s greenhouse gas emissions, supporting the country’s transition to a lower-carbon future, while also enabling energy security and local employment”.
Sasol aims to procure up to 1,200 MW of renewable energy by 2030. “With renewable energy being a cornerstone of Sasol’s strategy, its current pipeline comprises the Damlaagte 97,5 MW solar project (reached financial close in November 2023) and the Impofu cluster, consisting of three onshore wind projects totaling 330 MW of wind renewable energy (reached financial close in February 2024)”, the company said.
It announced the power purchase agreement with the Msenge project January 24, 2023.
“Sasol is leading South Africa’s just energy transition and the development of a hydrogen economy”, it said then. “The production of green hydrogen, using renewable energy, is key to unlocking this opportunity. The renewable energy generated by Msenge will enable Sasol to produce green hydrogen that can be supplied to customers to enable them to decarbonize their operations or will be utilized within Sasol’s own operations to produce sustainable products such as ammonia or methanol”.
“Sasol will progressively shift its feedstock away from coal and towards gas as a transitionary feedstock, and then towards green hydrogen and sustainable carbon over the longer term”, then-Sasol Energy executive vice president Priscillah Mabelane said.
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