Petrochemicals giant Sasol said yesterday that it submitted an appeal to the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy, to change the methodology used to measure its emissions.
This comes after the National Air Quality Officer (NAQO) last month declined its application to be regulated on an alternative emission load basis for the sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions from the boilers at its Secunda Operations’ steam plants from April 1, 2025, onwards.
“Sasol is requesting that instead of reducing the SO2 per boiler (concentration), it will reduce (turn down) the total number of boilers (load) to achieve the same or better result,” it said.
Air Resource Management, an independent environmental consulting company, appointed to manage Sasol’s 12A Application, had notified all interested and affected parties on July 31 of the appeal, Sasol said.
Sasol said its proposed integrated emission reduction solution would achieve double the reductions on SO2 emissions (load-based) than would have been achieved when compared to an equivalent concentration as provided for in the Minimum Emission Standards (MES).
“These further reductions will result in an improvement of ambient air quality within the local airshed over and above MES compliance. Furthermore, Sasol’s request to be measured on a load-based emission limit instead of a concentration-based limit is not unique and well in line with international standards. For instance, its US operations are also measured on a load-based basis,” it said.
Simon Baloyi, Sasol Energy Operations and technology executive vice-president, said: “We are taking full accountability and responsibility to transition our business away from being fossil-fuel-dominant, to using sustainable feedstocks and thereby reducing our environmental footprint, to not only benefit our business, but the country.
“However, this requires time, effort, and capital. The implementation of the integrated reduction solution would enable Sasol to meet both air quality and GHG targets and maintain its contributions to the economy.”
According to the group, the Secunda facility will still require electricity and other energy solutions to operate. To turn down the boilers, Sasol has identified alternative energy sources.
“These include renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, introduction of additional gas, and a fine coal solution. Sasol has already procured more than half of the 1 200MW renewable energy target to give effect to its emissions reduction targets, making Sasol the single largest private procurer of renewable energy in South Africa. This renewable energy is expected to become available in 2025,” it said.
Sasol said over the past 17 years, it had invested nearly R250 million to explore various technical alternatives to reduce SO2 emissions from its Secunda Operations steam plant towards compliance with the MES, involving nearly 200 experts.
Furthermore, it said since 2015, Sasol had progressed its air quality improvement journey with several projects implemented at Secunda, Sasolburg and Natref to comply with the MES.
“Sasol has invested more than R7 billion over the last five years on emission reduction projects and has achieved MES compliance for 98% of its emission sources at these operations. By April 2025, a further R4 billion will be invested to achieve compliance to new plant standards for the remaining sources, which excludes the proposed solution from SO2 in question,” it said.
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