Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa has officially unveiled a €200m investment to establish a plant with the capacity to produce 5‚000 tonnes of oxygen a day.
The Air Liquide oxygen production unit would improve the country’s ability to supply oxygen and argon to the industrial gas market‚ Molewa said on Monday.
It would make a meaningful contribution to a cleaner environment by consuming less electricity and reducing carbon emissions as “this new air separation unit uses 20% less electricity‚ which equates to avoiding about 200‚000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year”.
Acknowledging the benefits of the foreign direct investment into SA’s economy‚ the minister said: “This is welcomed not only from an innovation and investment perspective‚ but also from the context of addressing the pressing challenges associated with climate change in our country.
“Over and above the socioeconomic benefits‚ the establishment of this plant holds profound environmental benefits for Sasol and the country, and the rest of the world‚ in the long term. This development will most certainly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create a healthier and cleaner environment for all our people,” Molewa said.
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