TotalEnergies has applied for a production license to develop gas fields offshore South Africa. The major has also initiated an environmental and societal impact assessment of the project to explore the influence the development of the gas fields will have on South Africa’s economy, people and environment.
TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said that gas would help South Africa address load shedding, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fuel socioeconomic developments using revenues accrued from monetization.
“This project is expected to supply gas to the South African domestic market. South Africa’s economy is still predominantly based on coal, which accounts for 80% of its current electricity generation. Access to energy, and in particular meeting the growing demand for electricity, is a major concern in South Africa, where load shedding and power cuts have been an almost daily occurrence for nearly 15 years and where air pollution from fine particles linked to coal burning is frequent,” he said, adding that “The use of gas to replace coal combustion for electricity generation halves CO2 emissions and drastically reduces air pollution. The atmosphere will benefit from the avoided emissions made possible by this gas development project.”