One of the world’s largest powership firms has submitted a plan to the South African government to propose sending several ships to plug the country’s severe power shortage. Called Karpowership, the company is based in Istanbul and forms part of the Karadeniz Group.
The group has become a pioneer in innovative energy projects for the last 20 years, with investments in domestic and international markets. The group started its energy investments in 1996, and is the first private electricity exporter in Turkey. Today, the group owns and operates more than 3800 MW installed capacity globally.
During December 2019, the National Department of Energy issued a request for information (RFI) to source between 2000 and 3000 MW of power generation capacity that will cost little and be connected as quickly as possible.
The global sales director of Karpowership spoke to Reuters and told them the company planned to help South Africa with its power ships. “We have made a submission to the department as of last Friday and they received information on what is possible, where and how we would look to do it,” he said. “We have identified several locations that we believe are potential injection points.”
Each powership contains its own generation, electrical control, and substation components. The ship also includes its own maintenance workshop and engineering capabilities. Onboard substations can be connected to the national grid without lengthy delays or complicated engineering.
Picture: Karpowership