South Africa's Eskom, Sasol agree to explore LNG options

Sasol

20/09/2024 13:07

JOHANNESBURG, Sept 20 (Reuters) - South African
petrochemicals company Sasol  SOLJ.J  and state power utility
Eskom said on Friday they had agreed to jointly explore ways the
country could use liquefied natural gas (LNG).
        As the country's two biggest users of coal, Sasol and
Eskom are major polluters and so are central to the country's
efforts to transition to cleaner energy sources.
        Eskom is hoping to build on a recent improvement in its
plant performance, after years of imposing power cuts.
    "The collaboration aims to determine the potential volumes
that South Africa requires to establish a viable LNG import
market along with the enabling infrastructure, and will be
facilitated by government-to-government relations where
necessary," the two companies said in a statement.
    "This initiative focuses on using gas for power generation
to provide essential base load electricity and position gas as a
key enabler of re-industrialisation," they added.
        Asked at a news conference which governments South
Africa could approach to source LNG, Electricity and Energy
Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said Qatar was near the top of
the list.
    "Qatar is top of the food chain because of the historic
relations that Sasol enjoys with Qatar, and also the amount of
reserves that they have," Ramokgopa said.
    Sasol and Eskom did not give a specific timeframe or
potential joint projects on Friday.

 (Reporting by Tannur Anders;
Editing by Alexander Winning and Frances Kerry)
 ((Tannur.Anders@thomsonreuters.com))