Richards Bay FSRU

This article is part of the Global Fossil Infrastructure Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

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Richards Bay FSRU is a proposed LNG import terminal in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Location

The terminal is proposed for Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal.

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Project Details

• Owner: Karpowership
• Parent: Karadeniz Holding
• Location: Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
• Coordinates: -28.8, 32.1 (approximate)
• Capacity:
• Status: Proposed
• Type: Import
• Start Year:
• Associated Infrastructure: Karpowership Richards Bay power station, Saldanha FSRU, Coega FSRU

Note: mtpa = million tonnes per year; bcfd = billion cubic feet per day

Background

In October 2016 the South Africa DoE, together with Transnet National Ports Authority, said it had completed its 18-month study on the suitability of locating an LNG import terminal at each of the Ports of Ngqura (Coega), Richards Bay and Saldanha Bay in South Africa. The studies showed that the Saldanha Bay requires substantial work on the port and the infrastructure for a gas plant. Due to this, the DoE said the first phase of the LNG-to-power program will aim to identify, select and enable Bidders to develop, finance, construct and operate one gas-fired power generation plant at each of two ports, Coega and Richards Bay. The selected bidders for the two projects will also be responsible for LNG supply, provision of the floating storage and regasification facilities (FSRU), supporting port facilities and gas transmission pipelines.

The terminal will have an initial capacity of 1 mtpa and will begin operations in 2020.

Transnet will lead the development of one project at Richards Bay, called Richards Bay Transnet FSRU. A different plan advanced by Karpowership is described further here.

Karpowership South Africa FSRU Plans

In April 2022, Engineering News reported that Karpowership was showcasing an FSRU vessel in Cape Town, and that it planned to deploy three vessels to Richards Bay, Saldhana Bay, and Coega to generate a total of 1.2 MW of power. Karpowership vessels are designed to regasify LNG and generate power. The power plant attributes of the facility are described on the page for Karpowership Richards Bay power station within the Global Gas Plant Tracker.

In August 2023, Global Energy Monitor's Inside Gas wrote: "Despite two years of delays, Karpowership’s director for South Africa, Mehmet Katmer, has said he is confident of advancing the company’s three floating gas-to-power projects through a third public participation process. The proposals at the ports of Richards Bay, Saldanha Bay, and Ngqura (Coega) that would involve the importing of LNG have so far failed to gain environmental clearance, with NGOs raising concerns over adverse impacts on fishing and marine life. However, Katmer believes that environmental licenses for all three projects could be issued by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment within months, and Karpowership would be ready to implement them before the end of next year. The state-run power utility Eskom has also recently granted the company an extension to access to the South African grid until the end of 2023."

In January 2024, Inside Gas said that Karpowership's projects were "almost dead in the water," after the state-owned power utility Eskom took away the company's grid access rights, as it had not met a December 31 financial close deadline for its three gas-to-power projects proposed at South African ports.