Sasol and Air Liquide Big Industries in South Africa have signed 260 MW corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs) with French energy company TotalEnergies. The company will produce renewable energy from a 140 MW wind farm and a 120 MW solar plant that it will build in the Northern Cape province. The Secunda site of Sasol will receive 850 GWh of clean energy per year from these projects.
Air Liquide operates the world’s largest oxygen production asset at the Secunda site, which is located 700 km north-east of TotalEnergies’ projects. Sasol and Air Liquide will utilise clean energy from TotalEnergies’ sources of renewable energy to assist them decarbonize their production. The projects will create local jobs and are projected to be operational in 2025, subject to regulatory approval.
Recently, TotalEnergies partnered with Corio Generation to develop the Formosa III offshore wind cluster in Taiwan. Located in Changhua county on Taiwan’s central-western coast, the Formosa III project includes the proposed Haiding I, II and III wind farms. Corio will serve as lead developer and majority shareholder in the offshore project group.
REGlobal’s Views: Corporate renewable energy PPAs are rapidly gaining traction in South Africa and other African nations as solar and wind power become more affordable than fossil fuels in these markets. Further, since standalone solar and wind power is prone to resource related intermittency challenges, procurers are increasingly opting for hybrid power.
