Publications
Partners
- Karpowership SA will hold public meetings for its proposed power projects in November.
- The company is reapplying for environmental authorisation to provide over 1 200 MW of power to SA's grid.
- The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment had previously flagged gaps in Karpowership SA's public consultation process.
- For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page.
Karpowership SA is making a second attempt at a public consultation process in order to obtain environmental authorisation for its proposed emergency power projects at three of South Africa's ports.
The company was, in March 2021, named among the preferred bidders of the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP), which sought to get as much as 2 000MW on the South African grid on an emergency basis. Karpowership SA was to provide the majority, or 1 220MW, of the power through its floating gas-fired power plants, which would have been located at the Coega, Saldanha and Richards Bay ports.
The proposed deal came under fire after it was reported it would cost the country over R200 billion over a period of 20 years, according to an estimation by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
Furthermore, the company was unsuccessful in obtaining environmental authorisation. The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE) flagged gaps in the public consultation process and noted a failure to undertake an underwater noise modelling study, News24 previously reported.
Karpowership SA was also unsuccessful in its bid to appeal the DFFE's decision.
It has since engaged with the DFFE on the appeal ruling by Minister Barbara Creecy, and plans to address the "perceived gaps" in its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), a spokesperson said.
"As part of our re-filing [of] our application, we are embarking on comprehensive public participation processes in the ports of Coega, Saldanha Bay and Richards Bay, with public meetings in the week of 21 November 2022," a Karpowership SA spokesperson said.
"Karpowership SA acknowledges the DFFE's position on the questions raised, and are doing everything in our power, including bringing on further specialists and more resources, to ensure all amendments requested by the department are met in a timely fashion," the spokesperson added.
Environmental consultants Triplo4 Sustainable Solutions will be undertaking the EIA process.
News24 has seen a notice on upcoming public consultations in Gqeberha, in the Eastern Cape, which indicates that the public will be able to comment on the draft EIA which will be made available from 10 November to 13 December. The notice also indicates there will be an opportunity for the public to participate in a meeting in person or virtually.
Karpowership SA also expressed its commitment to ensuring South Africa, which is battling with load shedding, will have access to a "stable" and secure electricity supply.
So far only one of the developers in the RMIPPPP has reached financial close - Norwegian renewable energy company Scatec. Scatec's three hybrid solar and storage plants will contribute 540MW of generation capacity.
