Petredec CEO, Jonathan Fancher, and Transnet Group CEO, Michelle Phillips, at the signing ceremony yesterday. Picture: Supplied
South Africa’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) day zero, predicted for June 2026 after Sasol announced it would stop supplying gas from Mozambique, has been averted by an innovative partnership between Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) and Singaporean company, Petredec, in which the LPG logistics firm will introduce South Africa’s first scheduled LPG train system, with each 75-wagon trainset capable of transporting over 2 500 tons of LPG.
Initially operating up to three times per week, the arrangement is expected to plug the void anticipated to gape open on the back of Sasol’s announcement last year that it will be halting supply to downstream consumers from 2026 partly because it had failed to find sufficient reserves to replace an anticipated tapering of supply from southern Mozambique and partly because Sasol plans to use the remaining gas to displace coal at its own operations to support its de-carbonisation.
In a statement yesterday, TFR and Petredec said the landmark project, featuring a dedicated train system, modern LPG intermodal hub and storage facility at Sentrarand in Benoni, Gauteng, marked a significant milestone and investment in the country’s energy infrastructure, which is needed to meet the growing demand for LPG over the coming decades.
The hub will receive bulk LPG via rail from the initial load point at the Richards Bay LPG terminal in KwaZulu-Natal, developed in partnership with Bidvest Tank Terminals in 2020.
The new LPG hub at Sentrarand, Benoni will serve as a much-needed staging post for South Africa’s economic heartland and the broader SADC region.
“This landmark project marks a major advancement in the supply of LPG across the country, enabling bulk distribution of LPG on a scale never before achieved in Africa. The Sentrarand LPG hub and rail freight solution is critical infrastructure that will support South Africa’s long-term energy security and developmental ambitions,” said Michelle Phillips, Transnet Group CEO.
Project engineering and construction will be undertaken by long-standing technical partner Lloyd Jones Construction with the intended commissioning of the Sentrarand facility and operation of first trains commencing in the first half of 2028.
Petredec said the initiative is particularly crucial in the context of sub-Saharan Africa, where, according to the International Energy Agency, one billion people still rely on solid biomass and kerosene for cooking, disproportionately negatively impacting women and girls.
It said such investments in LPG infrastructure can greatly enhance the affordability and accessibility of clean cooking solutions, delivering substantial health, developmental and environmental benefits to the region.
“This investment reflects our commitment to developing key LPG infrastructure and implementing more efficient, optimised logistical solutions - ultimately making LPG more affordable to end users,” said Jonathan Fancher, CEO of Petredec.
“Our goal is clear: to make clean cooking solutions like LPG more accessible to those who need it, thus contributing to a broader vision of improved energy security, public health, energy affordability and environmental conservation in South Africa and beyond.”
Petredec is a leading fully integrated, LPG shipping, trading, and land-based wholesale and terminal operating platform has built and operates one of the youngest, most fuel-efficient fleets of LPG vessels on the water today.
Petredec’s Downstream division has focused on the development of LPG infrastructure with a series of LPG import terminals in operation, and under construction, around the Indian Ocean. The first of these was commissioned in Mauritius in 2014, followed by the Richards Bay terminal in 2020, launched in South Africa in partnership with Bidvest Tank Terminals.
Earlier this year Petredec started operations at its largest terminal built to date, the 34 000 metric tons import facility in Krishnapatnam, India with further developments underway in other key developing markets.
Petredec South Africa operates two subsidiary companies, Petrefuel and Petregaz, which distribute products in the liquid fuels and LPG sectors, respectively.
BUSINESS REPORT