Transitioning SA's Petrochemical Value Chain

Sasol uses a combination of grid electricity and own generation to run its operations. The annual power requirement for Sasol’s SA operations is to the order of 1 500 MW. Sasol produces a large proportion of this power via a 600 MW coal-fired power plant in Secunda and ~220 MW gas-fired plant, as well as through coal and gas fired power generation in Sasolburg. The remainder of their demand is met by purchases from the state owned utility Eskom (~700 MW), whose power is largely produced from coal. 

Sasol intends to incorporate 1 200 MW renewable energy (inclusive of the initial 600 MW announced for procurement by 2026) into their facilities to reduce electricity related emissions. This will result in renewables making up 80% of Sasol’s capacity requirement by 2030, but only around 30% of electrical energy due to the variable nature of renewables.

*Sasol’s internal electricity production capacity includes: (1) Secunda: 600MW from coal (via steam) and 200MW from natural gas, so 800MW in total; (2) Sasolburg: 175MW from its Gas Engine Power Plant (3) Capacity at Sasolburg Infrachem (chemicals processing plant) is 128MW from coal, via steam. Therefore, total Sasol’s capacity is approximately 1 100MW but it does not use all of its installed capacity instantaneously for operations (therefore explaining the ~300MW discrepancy in the table, which indicates that ~800MW is internally generated).

Source: Sasol Ltd. Website Model