![[South Africa] Sasol secures carbon offset credits to progress its climate change ambitions](Images/2019/06/sasol.jpg)
[South Africa] Sasol secures carbon offset credits to progress its climate change ambitions
Sasol has secured more than 100 000 carbon offset credits from Bethlehem Hydro, a South African independent power producer (IPP), in fulfilment of its obligations under the new South African carbon tax regulations.
The transaction is one of the first carbon offset transactions under the South African Carbon Offset Administration System (COAS) after it was launched earlier this year. Under the carbon tax regulations, South African companies are able to buy carbon credits from third parties to offset a portion of their carbon tax liability.
Shamini Harrington, Vice President, Climate Change, Sasol: “Carbon offsetting is recognised as a necessary tool to meet and increase climate ambition. These projects are beneficial not only from a greenhouse gas reduction perspective, but also from a socio-economic one as they bring multiple sustainability co-benefits to the communities and areas in which they are located.”
In operation since 2009, Bethlehem Hydro is a 7MW hydropower IPP, which has to date generated 383GWh of clean, emission free electricity, thereby reducing South Africa’s emission of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide by more than 350 000 tons.
Anton-Louis Olivier, MD, Bethlehem Hydro: “Bethlehem Hydro has in many ways been a pioneer in the South African power sector. It was not only the first IPP to be granted a generation licence in South Africa in 2005, but was also in the first batch of South African projects to be registered under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2009.”
