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The Msenge Wind Farm, which struck a deal in January to provide 69 MW of renewable energy to Sasol’s Sasolburg site, is finally able to commence construction. It is located close to Bedford, Eastern Cape. It is the country’s first utility scale private wind farm, and its power is wheeled throughout the grid. Recently, African Clean Energy Developments (Aced) announced that the 69 MW wind farm’s Aced-Ideas-Reatile Consortium and its financier Rand Merchant Bank have reached a financial close and started construction. The project will supply renewable energy to Sasol’s Sasolburg site. The supplied energy will be used to produce green hydrogen. This comes at a time when load shedding in South Africa is at its worst. The load shedding was due to a production gap of between 5000 and 8000 MW. Sasol and Msenge’s PPA is the first of several agreements the company plans to finalize in the months ahead. It is looking to secure the renewable energy supply needed to produce green hydrogen. Who is backing the Msenge Wind Farm project? African Infrastructure Investment Managers (Aiim), Reatile Renewables, and Aced were part of a group of co-sponsors and equity investors that Aced represented. As co-sponsors with Aced, Aiim controls 62% of the equity in Msenge through its Ideas Fund and 38% of it through Reatile. The consortium aims to commence constructing a number of renewable energy projects in 2023. The Msenge Wind Farm is their first project of 2023. From a baseline of 2017, Sasol has pledged to cut the absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its South African activities by at least 30% by 2030. Renewable energy is viewed as a crucial tool for elevating Sasol’s GHG emissions. It is also expected to advance the company toward more sustainable production. Sasol previously stated that the renewable energy produced by Msenge will enable Sasol to generate green hydrogen. The produced green hydrogen would be delivered to clients to enable them to decarbonize their operations. Also, it could be used within Sasol’s own activities to produce sustainable products like ammonia or methanol. |
