Sasol’s first large-scale renewable energy project, Msenge Emoyeni Wind Farm (Msenge), has reached commercial operations.

Located in Bedford, Eastern Cape, the 69MW wind farm comprises 16 turbines and is already supplying electrons wheeled through the national grid to Sasolburg Operations in the Free State.

The project consortium is led by African Clean Energy Developments (ACED) and consists of African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) and Reatile Renewables (Pty) (Reatile). ACED and AIIM are co-sponsors and the equity in Msenge is 62% owned by AIIM, through its flagship IDEAS Fund, and 38% by Reatile.

Completed within 18 months, Msenge is one of the fastest constructed renewable energy projects, leveraging the deep expertise of the consortium and broadening local experience in developing and executing large-scale renewable power generation.

Simon Baloyi, President and CEO of Sasol said, “I am very excited about this historic milestone in our energy transition journey, which demonstrates the success of partnerships and collaboration. It is a tangible step, as one of the largest private procurers of renewable energy in South Africa, in contributing to reducing Sasol’s greenhouse gas emissions, supporting the country’s transition to a lower-carbon future, while also enabling energy security and local employment.”

James Cumming, GM of ACED added, “We are very pleased and very proud to have brought this market leading project into operation for Sasol. We highly value their partnership, which demonstrates both organisations commitment to the sustainable development of South Africa and the benefits it brings to its people and environment. It’s taken a huge team to achieve this, and I want to thank all our project participants and stakeholders including our shareholders, lenders, contractors, advisors, and government.”

Simphiwe Mehlomakulu, Executive Chairman of Reatile Group concluded, “We are proud to have completed construction of Msenge to supply clean energy to Sasol. Reatile Group has a long-standing relationship with Sasol across its value chain and this is another milestone that solidifies our partnership.”

Since 2021, Sasol committed to procuring up to 1200MW of renewable energy by 2030 and has to date signed 757MW of power purchase agreements (PPAs).