Fuel depot goes solar

Left, Chris Botha, transport manager, Sasol Synfuels; Retha Maree, procurement advisor, Sasol Synfuels; Morkel Erasmus, logistics manager, Sasol Synfuels.

Six months ago the solar-powered depot was pivotal to the company being awarded the Sasol Synfuels contract. A number of Sasol projects are now being lined up to take advantage of the green depot.

When the Evander hub was being constructed in 2009 the surrounding area's electricity supply was already overloaded and therefore unavailable. The decision to go solar was simple but radical. The depot is said to be considered a giant leap forward in the logistics industry and is quickly becoming a key differentiator in tender processes for Cargo Carriers.

Ten years ago the decision was made by joint CEOs Garth and Murray Bolton to embrace the highest levels of Safety, Health, Environment and Quality (SHEQ), and the company instituted strict controls across all of its divisions, and is claimed to have enhanced the company's ability to compete in the fuel, gas, chemical and mining industries.

'Environment efforts boosted'

"Our environmental efforts have been boosted by the benchmarking of our fuel, electricity and water usage." says Murray Bolton. "These processes are very important in our efforts to one day become carbon neutral. We hope that this depot draws attention as we believe it adds great value to the supply chain."

The contract involves the transportation of pitch coke from the Sasol Synfuels Secunda plant to various Sasol clients around South Africa. A high purity carbon residue that is derived from coal tar pitch, pitch coke is used in metallurgical refinement and the manufacture of anodes and cathodes. Sasol Synfuels is one of the key suppliers of this product in Africa.