Eskom, South Africa’s power utility, may purchase electricity from a Karpowership plant situated offshore Mozambique. The decision comes after Eskom rejected to sign agreements to procure electricity from the Turkish company’s facilities that were planned to be moored off the South African coast. The new plant, which is being mounted on a ship located in Maputo Bay, will burn low-sulfur oil and generate 415 megawatts of power. Eskom is in talks with Electricidade de Mocambique to buy the power produced by the Karpowership plant. However, the final offtaker is expected to be the export market, given the power deficit being experienced in some countries in the region, including South Africa.
Eskom, which supplies almost all of South Africa’s power, has been experiencing difficulties meeting demand and has been implementing rotational blackouts of ten hours or more a day. The government has stated that it intends to purchase 1,000 megawatts of electricity from neighboring countries, many of which are also experiencing outages.
Despite the potential benefits, an off-take agreement could face opposition from environmentalists who have previously delayed the company’s plans for gas-fired plants on ships in South Africa due to concerns over their impact on marine life. Karpowership won a tender to supply 1,220 megawatts of power to South Africa in 2021. However, environmental objections, a lawsuit, and Eskom’s demand for indemnity against any corruption allegations have halted the deal. Karpowership has described Eskom’s demand as irregular and has denied any wrongdoing.
Eskom has stated that it will undertake a fair and transparent process to acquire power and is currently developing a procurement strategy. The utility has received unsolicited offers from other companies. The Karpowership plant in Maputo Bay is expected to receive environmental approval in June and begin operations in October. EDM, the state-owned Mozambican company, has stated that Zimbabwe and Zambia could be potential buyers for the power.
