Karpowership Saldanha power station

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Karpowership Saldanha power station is an announced power station in Port of Saldanha Bay, Western Cape, South Africa.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Karpowership Saldanha power station Port of Saldanha Bay, Western Cape, South Africa -33.005977, 17.980431 (approximate)[1]

The map below shows the approximate location of the power station.

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Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology CHP
1 Announced[2][3][4][5] fossil gas: LNG[6][7] 320[1][8] ICCC[1] not found

CHP is an abbreviation for Combined Heat and Power. It is a technology that produces electricity and thermal energy at high efficiencies. Coal units track this information in the Captive Use section when known.

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name Owner Parent
1 Karpowership South Africa [100%][1] Karadeniz Holding AŞ

Background

The plant is one of three floating natural gas power stations Karpowership has proposed at ports in South Africa, including Karpowership Coega power station and Karpowership Richards Bay power station.[9]

In March 2021, the South African government chose Karpowership to supply 1220 MW of electricity to address power shortages in the country.[9]

The three proposed Karpowership projects were estimated to cost US $15.4bn over two decades.[9]

Karpowership’s floating power plants have emerged as a temporary solution to provide energy to developing countries.  

Advantages of the Karpowership floating power plants include:

(i) They can be deployed in less than 30 days.[10]

(ii) The ships come with their own fuel for electricity generation.[10]

(iii) They can feed power to remote areas.[10]

Opposition

ESI Africa reported that  “The Department had received written notice on 31 May 2021 from non-profit organization The Green Connection, which alleged non-compliance with Regulation 13 of the EIA regulation in the Saldanha application, by the appointed Environmental Assessment Practitioner. At that time, the Competent Authority suspended the application to investigate the veracity of the allegations.”[11]

In June 2021, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) refused Karpowership SA’s application for Environmental Authorization to develop gas to power via power ships at three ports in South Africa, including  Karpowership Coega power station[12] and Karpowership Richards Bay power station.[13][11]

Following the rejection of the environmental authorisation in 2021, Karpowership undertook to conduct an EIA process for an EA and AEL authorisation. The company failed to meet the requirements necessary to be granted an environmental authorisation due to a flawed public participation process. Then Karpowership attempted to refine the public participation process at the end of 2022 which was received with further opposition from environmental activists.

In December 2023, further appeals against environmental authorisations for the CGG Seismic Survey 2.0 and Karpowership Saldanha Bay have been submitted by Green Connection with Natural Justice, the SDCEA along with other civil society groups hoping that the Department of Forest, Fisheries and the Environment will protect the environment and the coasts as people depend on them for their livelihood. Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd retrieved the transmission capacity reserved to Karpowership SA due to the failure to meet the deadline of 31 December 2023 for completion of financial arrangements. Bid window allocation for all powerships ended in December 2023.[11]

Articles and Resources

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20221124154959/https://sahris.sahra.org.za/sites/default/files/additionaldocs/BID%20-%20Gas%20to%20Power%20Project%20at%20the%20Port%20of%20Saldanha.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 November 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. https://web.archive.org/web/20221014082014/https://karpowership.com/en/karpowership-sa-appointed-as-preferred-bidder-on-the-rmipppp. Archived from the original on 14 October 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. https://web.archive.org/web/20221107060430/https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/south-africa-refuses-karpowership-environmental-authorisations-2021-06-24/. Archived from the original on 07 November 2022. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archive-date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. https://web.archive.org/web/20210923061010/https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/africa/lng-africa/336658/karpowership-dffe-appeal-lng/. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. https://web.archive.org/web/20220606060329/https://www.africaintelligence.com/eastern-and-southern-africa_business/2022/05/04/opponents-to-karpowership-floating-power-plants-ready-to-do-battle,109782293-art. Archived from the original on 06 June 2022. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archive-date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20220425142029/https://www.upstreamonline.com/lng/lng-deal-at-centre-of-legal-and-environmental-storm-in-south-africa/2-1-1016065. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. https://web.archive.org/web/20221207010154/https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/shell-expresses-concern-over-rmipppp-delays-as-it-confirms-karpowership-sa-partnership-2021-07-13. Archived from the original on 07 December 2022. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archive-date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. https://web.archive.org/web/20221222040205/https://www.power-technology.com/marketdata/karpowership-sa-saldanha-power-plant-south-africa/. Archived from the original on 22 December 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 "South Africa rejects environmental permits for Karpowership's projects". NS ENERGY. 25 June 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 "Floating Power Plants Are Taking to the High Seas". gCaptain. 2020-05-01. Retrieved 2022-06-19.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 "South Africa rejects environmental permits for Karpowership's projects". NS ENERGY. 25 June 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. Global Energy Monitor https://www.gem.wiki/Karpowership_Coega_power_station. Retrieved 19 June 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. Global Energy Monitor Wiki https://www.gem.wiki/Karpowership_Richards_Bay_power_station. Retrieved 19 June 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of gas-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.