Sasol, a company that wants to make green hydrogen, has set aside R350 million to repurpose an existing electrolyzer in Sasolburg, South Africa, to make green hydrogen.
The “proof-of-concept project” is likely to be fully operational in 18 to 24 months, producing up to five tonnes of green hydrogen and, possibly, green ammonia every single day.
The long-term items for the repurposing project were ordered in November of last year. Sasol is also moving to buy 60 MW of extra renewable energy to power the plant. In an electrolyser, renewable electricity is used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. This process is called “green hydrogen.”
Sasol is now looking at the responses from independent power producers (IPPs) to a recent request for proposals for an extra 60 MW of power. Because Sasol and Air Liquide are purchasing 600 MW together, 200 MW of that is set aside for 2023. The 60 MW is in addition to the 20 MW that Sasol is purchasing directly from IPPs and the 600 MW that they are purchasing together.
The 60 MW contract, on the other hand, will be treated as an embedded power plant and will be in Sasolburg. The company plans to buy a total of 1 200 MW of renewable energy by 2030 as part of its goal to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by then.
The green hydrogen made at the Sasolburg plant will not be used to make SAF, though, because the volumes will be too small to make it profitable.
