Friday, September 20, 2024

Eskom and energy and chemical enterprise, Sasol, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to "collaboratively investigate and research possible potential liquified natural gas (LNG) requirements".

This is according to a joint statement by the two organizations, following the signing ceremony of the MoU on Friday.

"The collaboration aims to find out the probable volumes that South Africa demands to establish a viable LNG import industry, combined with the enabling infrastructure, and may be facilitated by govt-to-government relations exactly where needed."

"This initiative concentrates on working with fuel for electric power generation to offer vital base load energy and position gas to be a critical enabler of re-industrialisation, even though also making certain ongoing supply to the marketplace by unlocking worldwide LNG resources.

"Furthermore, the collaboration will contribute to enhancing South Africa’s energy mix and enable the country's energy transition and decarbonisation," the joint statement read.

The MoU is expected to "explore sourcing gas within South Africa, the Southern African Development Community region, and other parts of the African continent, in addition to evaluating long-term LNG contracting".

"This will support the gas requirements for Eskom’s planned more info coal power station repowering and conversion to gas in the long term. The parties will also engage other state entities to enable an LNG value chain in South Africa.

"As part of its revised gas strategy, Sasol is working on enabling the future supply of LNG to South Africa by collaborating with companies such as Eskom, existing and future customers, suppliers, and infrastructure developers.

"The research findings from the first phase of the Sasol-Eskom collaboration will guide the necessary role players and investors required to offer the best prospects for South Africa's energy market, while outlining the challenges associated with the long-term commitments required for LNG imports," the statement said.