By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Karpowership SA has been granted environmental approval to go ahead with its proposed project at Richards Bay port, the company said in a statement.
The SA subsidiary of Turkish-owned Karpowership said on Friday the outcome “represents a meaningful turning point in this extensive process”.
Karpowership SA was awarded three bids for total contracted capacity of 1,220MW to be provided for 20 years via power ships moored in Coega, Richards Bay and Saldanha in the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP) in March 2021.
The Richards Bay project would entail a 450 MW devoted capacity project, which would require the company to deliver two powerships and a floating storage regasification unit (FSRU), build a gas pipeline between the FSRU and powership, build a transmission line from the powership to the substations and undertake certain marine works to moor the ships.
Coega would be a similar undertaking, albeit with a shorter transmission line.
Saldanha would be a 320 MW project and would, therefore, require only one powership and an FSRU. This project would also be located further offshore in the port, compared with the other two.
In total, this would provide 1.2 GW of capacity, enough to bring the country down one stage of loadshedding.
The RMIPPPP contracts awarded to Karpowership have faced much controversy and legal challenges related to the cost and duration of the projects as well as concerns about their environmental impact.
The granting of environmental authorisation brings the company one step closer to reaching financial close for the Richards Bay project.
It’s also a boost to the government’s attempts to increase power generation amid persistent blackouts that are stifling economic growth and souring the mood of voters ahead of elections next year.