Several high-profile projects in operation in South Africa are set to improve the country’s fuel and chemical 
reserves, electricity generation and petrochemicals transport.

Sasol Wax Expansion Project

Petrochemicals group Sasol Chemical Industries’ project is expected to double the production of hard waxes, as well as 
increase the production of medium waxes, mostly used for the candle industry in South Africa, and liquid paraffin, used in a 
variety of industrial applications.

Total production of all wax products is expected to increase 
by about 65%. Sasol has 
approved R8,4-billion for the project.

The expansion will be implemented in two phases, the first of which will increase the hard wax capacity at the company’s Sasolburg site by almost 40%. Sasol has completed the basic engineering for the first phase of the project and has ordered some of the long-lead items required, 
which would also reportedly 
include preinvestment activities for the second phase of the project.

Construction of the first phase is expected to come into operation in 2012, with the second phase expected to come into 
operation in 2014.

Engineering and construction contractor and power equipment supplier Foster Wheeler is responsible for front-end engineering design.

Landfill Gas-to-Electricity Project, in KwaZulu-Natal
The eThekwini municipality plans to generate electricity from rubbish, simultaneously 
reducing greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions.

The project will capture methane-rich landfill gas from three landfill sites, including La Mercy, Bisasar Road and Mariannhill, and use it to generate cleaner burning electricity.

The gas will be captured by sinking wells up to 40 m deep in the landfill waste sites and through interconnecting pipes linked to an underground main gas collector and extracted through manufacturer Roots’ blower system. The system maintains a partial vacuum in the pipes, which sucks gas out of the landfill.

A small portion of the gas is flared or burnt off, but most of it is vented to the atmosphere as GHG, which contributes to global warming.

Moderate-speed (1 500 rev/min) 
spark-ignition engine generators will be installed at the three sites to generate electricity for the local grid network.

The second component of the project was launched by Energy Minister Dipuo Peters in January. It involves extracting landfill gas (between 40% and 60% methane) at the Bisasar Road landfill site through extraction wells and 
interlinking pipework.

The Bisasar Road landfill compound is currently generating a total of 6,5 MW through 1-MW
engines, with another 1-MW 
engine at the Mariannhill landfill site, bringing total capacity to 
7,5 MW.

The project is expected to cost about R100-million and its 
income revenue is estimated at R4,5-million a month, owing to the sale of carbon credits and electricity.

Liquefied Natural Gas Regasification and Transmission Facilities, Port of Ngqura, Eastern Cape
The project entails the construction of a liquefied natural gas regasification facility and the three-phase construction of a 
1 926-km pipeline facility for gas transmission from Coega, passing through the Coega industrial development zone. The client is Unigas Import & Export.

Phase 1 of the gas transmission facility involves construction of a 635-km pipeline, with a route that will reach Mossel Bay, George, Knysna, Port Elizabeth, Grahamstown, Peddie and East London.

Phase 2 includes the construction of a 511-km pipeline route reaching Mossel Bay, Riversdale, Swellendam, Caledon, Cape Town, Kraaifontein, Bloubergstrand, Atlantis, Swart-land and Saldanha Bay.

Finally, the third phase consists of a 780-km pipeline construction that will extend to East London, Butterworth, Idutywa, Mthatha, Qumbu, Mount Frere, Mount Ayliff, Kokstad, Harding, Port Shepstone, Margate, Scott-burgh, Amanzimtoti, Durban, Pietermaritzburg, KwaMashu, Tongaat, Stanger and Richards Bay.

Phase 1 is expected to be completed in 2013, with phase 2 and phase 3 expected to be completed in 2015 and 2018 respectively.

Project Mthombo, Coega, Eastern Cape
South Africa’s national oil company, PetroSA, plans to build a 400 000-bl/d oil refinery in the Eastern Cape to meet the growing demand for fuel in the country.

The cost of the project has been reduced to $9-billion, down from an initial $11-billion as a result of fewer process units that will be used in the new configuration, lower materials 
costs and lower engineering costs. PetroSA expects to be in a position to make a final 
investment decision by early 2012.

In 2008, it was reported that the project is expected to come on stream by 2015, although high steel prices could cause a delay. Final board approval for the 
investment will be sought late this year, after which construction will start. Construction of the refinery is expected to start in early 2011.

PetroSA, speaking at the eleventh Southern African Energy Week, in February, stated that strategic decisions about the country’s future liquid-fuels supply system and about the project were urgent.

The national oil company has already spent some R250-million on feasibility studies and is seeking board sanction to spend a further R2,4-billion to complete the feed.

In October, last year, it was reported that US-based and NYSE-listed engineering firm KBR’s technical feasibility study for the project had been com-
pleted. Also, PetroSA signed a cooperation agreement with the Coega Development Corporation, clarifying the parties’ roles and responsibilities during the refinery’s construction and operation in the Coega industrial development zone. The project was set to move to the feed phase.

Project Mafutha
The proposed project by petrochemicals group Sasol and the Industrial Development Corporation will involve building a new coal-to-liquids (CTL) facility in South Africa. The envisioned project, with a 
potential capacity of about 80 000 bbl/d, has been dubbed ‘Mafutha,’ the Zulu word for oil.

The project also will include other processing units, utilities and off-site facilities necessary to support the development.

A figure for the quantity of coal that will be required for the plant has not been confirmed, and more details on the volumes of coal required will only become available once Sasol has finalised the location of the site.

Further, the plant will be built to ensure that it is carbon capture and storage ready.

Three potential sites with abundant coal reserves were initially considered, namely the Free State, Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces. Sasol has since selected a coalfield in the western part of Limpopo province, as part of its prefeasibility study into the proposed project.

If the project proves to be economically feasible, it could come on stream in 2016. Sasol has still to put a price tag on the project development.

Engineering and construction contractor and power equipment supplier Foster Wheeler South Africa was selected by Sasol to perform a prefeasibility study for the proposed CTL project.

In July last year, diversified miner Exxaro Resources entered into a prospecting joint venture (JV) agreement with Sasol Mining for the development of a new coal mine to supply Sasol’s potential new Mafutha project.

Should Project Mafutha proceed, it will 
require a new coal mine to produce feedstock for the 80 000-bl/d CTL complex. It is expected that such a mine will require an opencast truck-and-shovel extraction method, 
an area in which Exxaro has beneficial 
expertise.

Exxaro’s participation in the JV for the new mine is subject to the applicable regulatory approvals, the company’s 
continued interest in the project and development of the CTL and associated Mafutha coal mine.

Mozambique–South Africa Pipeline Project
The project will involve the construction of a liquid petroleum pipeline from the border of Mozambique, at Komatipoort, to Kendal, in South Africa, through to Nelspruit, and will cost an estimated R6-billion.

The pipeline will run from an existing coastal fuel-storage facility at Matola harbour, in Mozambique, to the Nelspruit area, in Mpumalanga province, South Africa, where an inland storage depot will be constructed, complete with rail and road offloading infrastructure.

The pipeline will then continue to Kendal, where it will potentially join the current State-owned freight logistics group Transnet Pipelines’ (formerly Petronet) petroleum pipeline network, for inland distribution of the petroleum product. Rail and road loading 
infrastructure will also be provided at Kendal.

Facilities and infrastructure are being put in place to make available an interim rail tanker service from Maputo to customers in South Africa, pending construction of the pipeline. An extensive delivery service will be provided by rail from the facilities at Nelspruit (Alkmaar) and Kendal when the pipeline is in operation.

The project was expected to start supplying product this year, but delays, mainly in the 
approval process, have extended the target date by a number of months.