The new, upgraded Sasol and BP Southern Africa Alrode fuel depot is officially open for business.
The multimillion-rand upgrade project has increased Sasol’s fuel storage capacity from 9-million litres to 64-million litres.
This is the culmination of a four-year construction project, commissioned by the joint venture partners to address fuel storage and throughput constraints and to improve customer service levels.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the new depot early this month to commemorate the successful execution of the project.
The old depot was inadequate to serve the market and achieve the expected customer service levels.
The new depot is supplied by Transnet Pipelines from Sasol Secunda, as well as the Natref and Sapref refineries, and has adequate storage for all fuel product grades.
It has sufficient gantry capacity to load and dispatch fuel delivery vehicles optimally.
Sasol Energy executive VP Maurice Radebe emphasised the importance of the depot to the fuel sector and the economy. It is expected to guarantee security of fuel supply for the country, without which “the economy will grind to a halt”.
The facility was upgraded in two phases, with Phase 2 completed earlier this year.
The second phase focused on ensuring a minimum storage capacity of nine days’ stock for each product grade, ensuring uninterrupted supply during stock replenishment and statutory maintenance, meeting projected market growth over the next 15 years and enabling the simultaneous loading of all products at all bays.
Radebe indicated that the depot development project had already resulted in dividends, with Sasol already having experienced a positive uptake from the new depot. The company achieved an increase of 21% in volume throughput in the first months after Phase 2 started operations.
“We are, therefore, confident in this project bridging the product shortfall, which was previously supplemented from our Secunda operations,” he noted.