Energy16.07.2020

Powerships are ready to stop load-shedding in South Africa

By Staff Writer

Karpowership South Africa spokesperson Patrick O’Driscall say they can supply enough electricity to stop most load-shedding – and do it at a lower cost than Eskom.

Karpowership South Africa is a subsidiary of Karadeniz Holding and is a registered company with local BEE partners and registered offices in the country.

It has responded to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy’s 2019 Request for Information (RFI) to procure power from independent producers.

Speaking to Biznews, O’Driscall said Karpowership could deliver between 700MW and 800MW immediately.

“I would then have the capability to incrementally increase that up to 2,000 plus megawatts over the following six months,” he said.

He said they can provide power to South Africa at R1.70 per kilowatt-hour, which is much less than the open-cycle gas turbines that Eskom is running.

O’Driscall highlighted that their offering is not only a short-term solution during desperate times, like South Africa is currently experiencing.

“I’ve got contracts that range from three years, five years, ten years to fifteen plus years. So, it can be used in various durations,” he said.

How it will work

O’Driscall explained that they purchase second-hand cargo carrier ships and convert them into floating power ships.

When a country is in need of additional electricity – like South Africa – they sail these powerships to the area and park them at a suitable location.

The power is generated on the ship which has a grid substation which evacuates the power at the allocated voltage.

“A power line is then taken from the ship to a transmission tower and the transmission towers are integrated into the grid,” he said.

He highlighted that most of South Africa’s large power plants are on the waterfront anyway, which means they have power lines “running up and down the country”.

“We just connect to them. It could be in numerous locations. South African coastline is very large. It could be in Richards Bay, it could be a Coega, it could be in Saldanha, or it could be in Durban,” he said.