Turkish power-ship company Karpowership has submitted a request for proposal offering South Africa’s state-owned power utility, Eskom, aid to plug the supply gap in its generation.
Eskom’s current level of generation Eskom falls 2,000MW short, which could lead to electricity rationing for the next 18 months. Karpowership has a fleet of 22 ships, which have a combined generating capacity of 3,500MW, with the largest single ship generating 470MW – about a tenth of the 4,800MW Eskom’s Medupi and Kusile power stations each generate.
“It’s no secret that Karpowership has the ability to respond now, so speed of delivery has been paramount to all of the work we’ve done in Africa,” said Patrick O’Driscoll, Global Sales Director of Karpowership.
The ships, which run on natural gas, anchor offshore and connect to the electricity grid, adding between 30MW to around 600MW for various lengths of time.
Karpowership, and has extensive operations in Iraq and operates geothermal and solar plants is a member of the Turkish group Karadeniz Energy. The Turkish company believes that the proposed plan could be very affordable compared to Eskom’s diesel-fired power stations.
