Karpowership, part of the Turkish energy group Karadeniz Holding, has placed an order for twelve 18V 51/60 engines (18.9 MW each) with MAN Diesel & Turbo. The deal was communicated just days after Karpower Ghana agreed with state-owned utility ECG to have a 450 MW power barge, currently built in Turkey, shipped over to Ghana by November.
At Tema Harbour, a 225 MW Karpowership is already being moored since November last year – dispatched year as backup generating capacity since early 2016. Around 600 MW of land-based gas power capacity is stranded in the eastern part of the country, with the government considering building a floating LNG import facility to overcome the crippling lack of fuel supply.
Shipment and dispatch of the additional 450 MW Karpowership is meant to bring Ghana’s mobile gas power capacity up to 675 MW before December.
Capacity range of up to 470 MW, worldwide use
Istanbul-based Karpowership is the only company worldwide which operates nine barge-based power plants with a capacity range between 30 MW and 470 MW. A further 22 such Powerships are currently being built – fitted with MAN engines – for use all around the globe.
Two Karpowerships, moored are more off Lebanon, are feeding electricity into the distribution network of Beirut. The 203 MW ‘Fatmagul Sultan’ which is driven by eleven MAN V51/60 18-cylinder dual-fuel engines, has helped power the Lebanese capital since spring 2013. The ‘Orhan Bay’ powership is also anchored nearby.
Under the latest deal, six of the MAN 18V 51/60 engines are to be delivered before year-end, the remaining six at the start of 2017, the Augsburg-based manufacturer stated. An additional framework agreement sets out the conditions for the acceptance of a further 48 units.
“Powerships mean flexibility. The areas of deployment will be in various parts of Europe, Asia, South America and Africa,” said Dr. Tilman Tütken, MAN Diesel & Turbo’s European head of sales, power plants. Apart from the latest order win for twelve 18V 51/60 engines, Karpowership and MAN also sealed a framework accord that sets out conditions for the sale of a further 48 units.
Floating power barges fuelled by gas and/or HFO
Cooperation between MAN and Karpowership stretches back to 2009. As with previous order, the MAN engines and control & automation systems will be deployed into the so-called ‘powerships’. For this purpose, ballast transporters, heavy transport ships and barges are converted into floating power stations.
“Our engines will be used in various ships, and operated with either natural gas or heavy fuel oil,” explained Alexander Stöckler, MAN Diesel & Turbo’s global head of sales, power plants. “We will already deliver some of the engines as Dual-Fuels, with others being supplied with a simple option to convert to gas.”