JOHANNESBURG, Sept 15 – South African petrochemical company Sasol has signed an agreement to supply sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to luxury tourism operator White Desert for flights between Cape Town and Antarctica, marking a new commercial step in the development of South Africa’s SAF industry.
The agreement follows Sasol’s certification of its SAF earlier this year and will see White Desert become the first commercial customer for the fuel. The company operates weekly flights from Cape Town to Antarctica during the November-to-February season.
The first flight using Sasol’s SAF is scheduled for November aboard an Airbus A340-600. Sasol’s co-processed SAF is produced from cooking oil and vegetable oil at the Natref refinery, which has a capacity of 108,500 barrels per day and primarily processes crude oil.
The company described the agreement as Africa’s first commercial SAF supply deal. Sasol is now seeking to expand its customer base, including potential agreements with major airlines in Europe and the Middle East.
“We are seeking similar deals with larger European and Middle Eastern airlines,” Danie Cronje, Sasol’s senior vice president for business building, strategy and technology, told Reuters.
Sasol Scales SAF Production
The White Desert agreement comes after Sasol received independent certification for its SAF from German testing and certification agency TÜV SÜD in April, providing the company with a pathway toward commercial sales.
White Desert had previously sourced sustainable aviation fuel from Europe but opted for a local supplier after Sasol obtained certification for its product.
The agreement also provides an early commercial market for Natref as Sasol transitions the facility toward a hybrid bio-refinery capable of producing both conventional and lower-carbon fuels.
Production volumes are expected to increase significantly as demand develops. Natref is targeting between 1 million and 2 million litres of SAF production this year, around 16 million litres in 2027 and as much as 100 million litres by 2030.
The production targets are dependent on customer demand, meaning the expansion of Sasol’s SAF business will depend in part on securing additional airline and aviation customers.
Africa’s SAF Market Takes Shape
The agreement comes as other African aviation and energy companies pursue larger-scale SAF projects.
In Kenya, Kenya Airways and Rubis Energy Kenya signed a non-binding agreement in May to develop a dedicated SAF refinery, which the companies described as Africa’s first dedicated facility of its kind.
The proposed plant would use animal fats and waste vegetable oils as feedstock and is intended to produce fuel that meets stringent European Union sustainability requirements.
The emerging projects highlight the growing importance of sustainable aviation fuel as airlines face increasing pressure to reduce emissions from air travel while maintaining long-haul operations.
For Sasol, the White Desert agreement provides an initial commercial foothold as the company seeks to establish South Africa as a supplier of lower-carbon aviation fuel and build demand for locally produced SAF in international markets.
