Two of SA’s biggest polluters announced a new partnership on Tuesday that promises to create new “green” jobs and support both companies’ ambition to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Energy and chemical company Sasol and steel producer ArcelorMittal SA will jointly develop carbon-capture technology to produce sustainable fuels and chemicals. They will also partner on using green hydrogen to manufacture steel, the two companies said in a statement.
Together they will explore the feasibility of two potential projects: the Saldanha green hydrogen and derivatives study, which will explore the West Coast region’s potential as an export hub for green hydrogen and derivatives, as well as green steel production; and the Vaal carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) study to use renewable electricity and green hydrogen to convert captured carbon from ArcelorMittal SA’s Vanderbijlpark’s steel plant into sustainable fuels and chemicals.
Both initiatives have the potential for ArcelorMittal SA to be the first African flat-steel producer using green hydrogen.
“These potential projects are an important kick-start to our decarbonisation journey and create an exciting opportunity to contribute to the SA government’s aspirations to transition to a green economy,” said ArcelorMittal SA CEO Kobus Verster.
Should they prove achievable, the two projects “could drive the re-industrialisation of both the Saldanha and the Vaal regions”, Sasol and ArcelorMittal SA said.
Priscillah Mabelane, executive vice-president for Sasol’s energy business, said the two potential projects hold promise to unlock SA’s potential to be a global green hydrogen and derivatives player.
The Vaal CCU study will explore using up to 1.5-million tonnes a year of unavoidable industrial carbon dioxide captured from the ArcelorMittal SA’s Vanderbijlpark works.
The carbon dioxide could be transported to Sasol’s operations at Sasolburg and Ekandustria and, together with green hydrogen, will eventually replace natural gas as a feedstock to produce chemicals products.
Mabelane told Business Day that it was too soon to provide an indication of what the scope of these projects might be. It will take 18 to 24 months to complete the pre-feasibility and feasibility work that will provide insight into “the potential size of these projects and how fast we can move on them”, she said.
Sasol CEO Fleetwood Grobler said in a previous interview with Business Day the company’s synthetic fuel operations at Secunda could also be a captive user of green hydrogen to replace the 2.5-million tonnes of grey hydrogen it now produces for its own use.
Sasol has also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Freeport Saldanha Industrial Development Zone to develop a globally competitive green hydrogen hub and ecosystem within Saldanha Bay.
This is in addition to the business’s existing MOU, in partnership with the Industrial Development Corporation, and with the Northern Cape Economic Development, Trade and Investment Promotion Agency to lead the feasibility study to explore the potential of Boegoebaai as an export hub for green hydrogen and ammonia.
The development on green hydrogen production and export hubs at these Northern and Western Cape locations would be complementary as each location offers some unique advantages, said Mabelane.
The Northern Cape has vast areas of land available and ample sunshine for solar energy development. Meanwhile, in the Western Cape, the Freeport Saldanha Industrial Development Zone already has existing port infrastructure that could help speed up further development, she said.
Kaashifah Beukes, Freeport Saldanha CEO, said the area’s favourable renewables endowment, a growing local renewables industry and a developed, operational free port and deepwater port are part of the reasons Saldanha makes a sensible investment location for this development.
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