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AfrElec HYDROGEN AfrElec

Sasol to sharpen focus on green

hydrogen export plans as Europe

looks for green energy

SOUTH AFIRCA SOUTH Africa’s Sasol is quickening the pace of This is consistent with what its peers have com-
its green hydrogen export plans in response to mitted to.
Europe’s anxious search for new energy sources In September 2021 Sasol said: “A green hydro-
as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. gen sector holds promise for growth and devel-
Sasol is to place greater focus on producing opment in the country’s primarily coal-based
green hydrogen on South Africa’s north-west economy and will contribute to South Africa’s
coast and is carrying out a feasibility study that international climate change commitments.”
it expects to complete in two years, Sasol CEO Sasol’s strategy is aligned with South Africa’s
Fleetwood Grobler said, Bloomberg cited in a ambitions to establish the country as a significant
report. green hydrogen production and global export
“The impetus for renewables like hydrogen hub.
has gone up a couple of notches in the last two European countries have increased their tar-
months,” Grobler said in an interview. “What in gets for the production of green hydrogen, which
my mind changes is that we should move quicker uses renewable energy such as solar or wind to
and faster on our hydrogen plays.” power electrolysers to break down water into
In October 2021, Sasol signed a memoran- hydrogen and oxygen.
dum of agreement with the Northern Cape For example, the EU has doubled its green
Economic Development, Trade and Promotion target to 80 GW by 2030, while the UK wants to
Agency to lead the feasibility study to explore produce 5 GW by 2030.
the potential of Boegoebaai as an export hub for At COP26, the country received $8.5bn in cli-
green hydrogen and ammonia. mate financing pledged by the UK, US, France
In September, Sasol said in a statement that and Germany, and South Africa is the G20
its updated strategy commits it to be at net-zero member state that is most reliant on coal for its
emissions by 2050. This, it said, is in line with electricity.
Sasol’s commitment to accelerate its transition to Green energy has the support of the country’s
a low-carbon world in support of the objectives government, with President Cyril Ramaphosa
of the Paris Agreement. saying in October that he believed that green
In aligning with its 2050 ambition, Sasol has hydrogen was the oil of the future and that green
stepped up its 2030 scope 1 and 2 greenhouse infrastructure would power the country’s econ-
gas (GHG) emissions reduction target, from omy going forward.
an initial 10% for its South African operations, He warned that if South Africa did not
announced last year, to 30% for its energy and embrace green energy, and did not respond to
chemicals businesses, off a 2017 baseline. The the climate change process that is under way and
company is also introducing a scope 3 reduction developing in the world, then the country and its
target for its energy business, off a 2019 baseline. economy would get left behind. ™

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 17 28•April•2022