Sasol to decide on biodiesel plant

JOHANNESBURG – South African synthetic fuels and chemicals group Sasol said yesterday it would decide by the year end whether to build a biodiesel plant to produce about 125 million litres a year.

Sasol and its partner in the project have appointed German global technology company Lurgi AG – which has 31 biodiesel plants under construction worldwide – to study the viability of the project further, it said in a statement. Sasol, the world’s biggest producer of synthetic fuel from coal, and the state’s Central Energy Fund (CEF) in February agreed on a feasibility study to test the venture’s viability to make biodiesel, a renewable diesel made from vegetable oil by catalytic reaction with methanol.The Managing Director of Sasol’s Nitro unit, Bernard Klingenberg, said technology bids for the project had been higher than expected, negatively impacting the project’s economics, which may delay its approval, he added.”Together with Lurgi, we are investigating opportunities to lower capital costs and improve efficiencies.Lurgi AG will only be given the go-ahead for construction of the plant once its viability has been proven,” said Klingenberg.The proposed plant will require more than 500 kilotons of soybeans to produce 100 kilotons (125 million litres) of biodiesel yearly.The yearly global output of biodiesel is some three million tons, mostly in western Europe.If approved, the plant may be located at Newcastle, or at Sasol’s existing plants at Sasolburg or Secunda, the group said.Sasol will hold 37,5 per cent, CEF 36,5 per cent and black partner Siyanda Biodiesel will own 26 per cent of the proposed joint venture company, under a government plan to bring blacks into the mainstream after years of exclusion under apartheid.Nampa-ReutersSasol, the world’s biggest producer of synthetic fuel from coal, and the state’s Central Energy Fund (CEF) in February agreed on a feasibility study to test the venture’s viability to make biodiesel, a renewable diesel made from vegetable oil by catalytic reaction with methanol.The Managing Director of Sasol’s Nitro unit, Bernard Klingenberg, said technology bids for the project had been higher than expected, negatively impacting the project’s economics, which may delay its approval, he added.”Together with Lurgi, we are investigating opportunities to lower capital costs and improve efficiencies.Lurgi AG will only be given the go-ahead for construction of the plant once its viability has been proven,” said Klingenberg.The proposed plant will require more than 500 kilotons of soybeans to produce 100 kilotons (125 million litres) of biodiesel yearly.The yearly global output of biodiesel is some three million tons, mostly in western Europe.If approved, the plant may be located at Newcastle, or at Sasol’s existing plants at Sasolburg or Secunda, the group said.Sasol will hold 37,5 per cent, CEF 36,5 per cent and black partner Siyanda Biodiesel will own 26 per cent of the proposed joint venture company, under a government plan to bring blacks into the mainstream after years of exclusion under apartheid.Nampa-Reuters