Energy company TotalEnergies has signed corporate power purchase agreements (CPPAs) with Sasol South Africa and Air Liquide Large Industries South Africa for the supply of 260 MW of renewable electricity over 20 years.
TotalEnergies will develop a 120 MW solar plant and a 140 MW wind farm in the Western Cape province to supply about 850 GWh/y of green electricity to Sasol’s Secunda site.
The two projects are expected to provide competitive and available renewable electricity to decarbonise Sasol and Air Liquide’s production.
These agreements demonstrate TotalEnergies’ positioning to contribute to the evolution of the energy mix in South Africa, it says.
It adds that the projects will have a direct impact on the local community through job creation.
“Power generation in South Africa is still 80% based on coal and power cuts occur daily. With these developments, we are proud to support Air Liquide and Sasol for their supply of green electricity. Meanwhile, we are pleased to contribute to South Africa’s energy transition which consists of increasing its share of renewables and gas as an alternative to coal.
“There is a dynamic market for CPPAs in South Africa and we want TotalEnergies to take a strong leadership position,” says TotalEnergies Renewables senior VP Vincent Stoquart.
The two projects are expected to be operational in 2025. The CPPAs with Sasol and Air Liquide were signed with a consortium of TotalEnergies Marketing South Africa (70%), its partner Mulilo (17%) and a to-be-announced broad-based black economic empowerment partner (13%).
These projects are subject to regulatory approvals.