Sasol sees gas as part of the energy transition
South African energy company Sasol said September 23 it would rely in part on natural gas as a bridge to a cleaner future.
The company said it revised its commitment to reduce Scope 1 emissions, those from direct operations, and Scope 2 emissions, indirect pollution, from 10% to 30% by 2030, based on a 2017 baseline.
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CEO Fleetwood Grobler said the company could meet its commitments without significant divestments.
“This will be done through a mix of energy and process efficiencies, investments in renewables and a shift to incremental natural gas as a transition feedstock for our Southern African value chain,” he said. “These solutions are well known and mostly under our control, and the investments required are cost-effective, preserving strong returns in our business, above the cost of capital.”
Sasol this week signed an agreement with fleet operator Imperial Logistics to explore green hydrogen in the transportation sector. The energy company said green hydrogen could be a promising alternative to coal and help South Africa meet its international climate commitments.
Much of South Africa’s gas supply comes from the Pande-Temane fields in Mozambique, which is delivered through the ROMPCO pipeline.
But new sources will be needed as these reserves mature. South Africa hopes to develop two gas fields recently discovered by TotalEnergies offshore, but is also looking at new import options by way of LNG.
Plans to develop LNG-to-power projects in South Africa suffered a setback during the summer after the government rejected an application by Turkey’s Karpowership to operate floating power plants at three of the country’s major ports.