Floating Power Plants the Panacea for energy poor countries

The West African countries are ready to ramp up its energy inflow in the form of better electricity as their final level talks with the world’s largest operators of floating power plants, the Karpowership, takes shape. Karpowership, the unit of Turkey’s Karadeniz Energy Group already supplies electricity to eight African countries.

At a time when the Davos Agenda talks are doing their rounds, it’s obvious that the whole world is looking at innovations in clean energy; fundamental changes in global economy, climate changes, the new normal at work and so much more to bridge the severe economic gaps left behind by a pandaemic. The severest of the communities hit are the countries which are poor in producing energy. The Sub Saharan African region is battling an energy crisis with lack or no access to electricity. As per the study by the International Energy Agency, there has been an increase of 13 million people with shortage of electricity just in 2019.

This bid to self sufficiency is quite a welcome decision for the Cameroonian Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute with whom the first levels of talks were held. Karpowership, which already supplies power to Lebanon, Sierre Leone, Gambi, Mozambique, Sudan and Indonesia are working out a possible deal to supply power with the country’s main port , Yaoundé- based Energies Media.

This bid will help the vessel to hook into an onshore grid quickly without the red tape and construction issues involved in building a conventional power plant thus proving to be a far cheaper and reliable source of power generation. Unlike conventional power plants, the power ship delivers power supply at a cost-effective price, which can help for mass production and easy deployment as a floating reactor can be tugged to a new location to supply power if the need arises and can bring power to remote parts of the world. Land based power plants need to be built by sources of water for cooling which can be a valuable real estate. Building on land can also require a lengthy construction process and face backlash from locals.

A land-based power plant needs to be dismantled at the end of its lifetime, which leaves a big environmental problem in the hands of the government as opposed to the power ship where it just needs to be unplugged and left when the economic and physical lifetime of the ship expires.

Seen as a quick fix for the energy deficient countries, the company is seeking to convert more of its fleet to liquified natural gas that will reduce the dependence on fossil fuels productively reducing carbon emissions. Karpowership, which supplies nearly 1,400 megawatts to countries in sub-Saharan Africa, is seeking to provide an additional 1,000 megawatts to existing and new clients in the region this year.

 

Karpowership undoubtedly fills an important gap in global energy markets with its power ships that provide fast track, economical and flexible solutions for countries with energy needs.