- Reuters reports that Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown has been hit by power cuts after Turkey’s Karpowership switched off the electricity supply due to an unpaid debt of around US$40 million.
Minister Kanja Sesay told Reuters that the outstanding amount “was accrued over time because the government subsidises more than half the cost the ship charges per kilowatt hour”.
He said the government had to spend more on the subsidy because it charges consumers in the weak local Leone currency, one of worst performing against the dollar in which it pays the power provider.
Link to the Reuters report here
In South Africa Karpowership SA was awarded preferred bidders’ status for three gas power ship projects totalling 1220MW in South Africa’s controversial Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP). Their projects have struggled to reach financial close since July 2021 and face massive push back from environmental groups. The groups have challenged Karpowership SA late and revised EIA application for the 450MW Richards Bay floating gas power plant.
According to civil society organisations – including the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA), groundWork, The Green Connection, Natural Justice, and the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) – South Africans must be wary of this deal which, if approved, could have far-reaching implications. Read more
Last week it was revealed that Karpowership SA has offered to donate a game farm to the government — a controversial arrangement that Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife describes as ‘unchartered territory’. The game farm is being offered as ‘ecological compensation’ to make up for temporary damage to the ‘irreplaceable’ and globally significant bird habitat around Richards Bay. Read more
The current ruling party the ruling party, the ANC, stands to benefit financially through the gas supply value chain. Read more.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
