The South African energy department in December issued a request for information (RFI) to source between 2,000 and 3,000 megawatts (MW) of power generation capacity at the least cost. That RFI calls for start of commercial operation, following financial close, of either three to six month or six to twelve month.
Eskom currently has a shortfall in generation of well over 2,000 MW which puts supply security at risk as energy demand rises over the summer.
Suitable locations for new ships identified
“In our proposal, we have spelled out what is possible, where and how we would look to do it,” said Patrick O’Driscoll, global sales director at Karpowership. Several locations have been identified as potential mooring points for the new ships, suitable to inject the electricity generated offshore into the South African power grid.
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.
Each ship can provide a range of power supply options between 30 MW and 600 MW, and could be hired by Eskom for different time spans. O’Driscoll pointed out using gas-fuelled power ships would be “very affordable” compared to Eskom’s currently dispatched diesel-fired emergency gensets.
Cheaper fuel costs, short delivery times
Eskom currently needs to spend billion of South African rand annually to buy diesel for emergency power units, mostly driven by open-cycle gas turbines. Karpowership underlined that the operational cost of one of its gas-fuelled ships will be “significantly less, maybe even half the cost of those [Eskom’s] peakers.”
Speed of delivery is crucial for emergency power solutions; hence O’Driscoll pointed out that a Karpowership was recently delivered and operated a 120 MW contract in Senegal within just nine weeks. In addition, the 235 MW Powership Ayşegül Sultan is moored off Dakar since August 2019, contracted to supply 15 percent of Senegal’s electricity needs for 5.5 years.
Headquartered in Istanbul, Karpowership is the only owner, operator and builder of the first Powership fleet in the world. It has 25 powerships, all built in Turkey, in operation and an order book to build new vessels in excess of 4,400 MW.