Air Liquide and Sasol have signed two Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) with TotalEnergies and its partner Mulilo for the long-term supply of a total capacity of 260 MW of renewable power to Sasol’s Secunda site, in South Africa, where Air Liquide operates the biggest oxygen production site in the world.
This is the second set of PPAs signed by Air Liquide and Sasol, after the PPAs announced in January with Enel Green Power for a capacity of 220 MW. Together, these PPAs represent a total of 480 MW of the joint commitment by Air Liquide and Sasol to pursue the procurement of a total capacity of 900 MW of renewable energy. These will significantly contribute to the decarbonization of the Secunda site.
Within the framework of these agreements with Air Liquide and Sasol, TotalEnergies and Mulilo will create one local majority owned wind project with a capacity of 140 MW and one local majority owned solar project with a capacity of 120 MW. These projects are scheduled to be operational in 2025. This agreement is subject to regulatory and financial approvals.
Ronnie Chalmers, Vice President and Executive Committee Member of the Air Liquide Group, in charge of Africa Middle East & India, said: “Not only will these renewable energy capacities significantly contribute to the decarbonization of our operations in Secunda, where we operate the biggest oxygen production site in the world, they will also actively support the development of renewable energies in South Africa, for the benefit of the South African electrical power system and ultimately of the South African society. In line with Air Liquide’s ADVANCE strategic plan, which includes reducing its absolute CO2 emissions by 33% by 2035, these PPAs also demonstrate the Group’s capacity to collaborate with its customers to provide solutions which contribute to the decarbonization of its assets as well as of its clients.”
In April 2021, Air Liquide and Sasol launched a joint initiative to procure a total of 900 MW of renewable energy for their operations in Secunda, with an allocation of 500 MW to Sasol and 400 MW to Air Liquide. The two companies are negotiating additional PPAs to complete the balance of the renewable energy requested.
Air Liquide acquired Sasol’s 16 oxygen production units in Secunda and has been operating them since June 2021, in the framework of a long-term supply contract with its long-term partner. Including another Air Separation Unit (ASU) it already operated for Sasol, Air Liquide thus now operates a total of 17 ASUs in Secunda, with a total capacity of 47,000 tonnes/day of oxygen. Air Liquide plans to reduce by 30 % to 40 % the CO2 emissions (Scope 2) arising from its operations on the Secunda site through a multi-year investment and modernization plan and a steep increase of the site’s procurement in renewable energies.