Idea worth floating
Excellent match for SA’s crisis and transition to a greener future. POWERSHIP: LIQUID NATURAL GAS COMPLEMENTS RENEWABLES
Load shedding continues to be a blight on South Africa, hampering growth and disproportionately affecting people of colour. It has made an already dire situation worse, contributed to unemployment, an ever-increasing skills gap and has highlighted serious deficiencies in the country’s energy security strategy.
However, it has also exposed opportunities that could unleash enormous potential.
The story of Karpowership, a company that provides floating powership technology, could provide needed innovation.
The Black Business Council (BBC) has existed for over 25 years and we have worked tirelessly to address some of the serious structural problems facing South Africa, where over 90% of the economy is controlled by 10% of the population.
Having such an entrenched elite can slow innovation, particularly in areas where self-interest is threatened. This creates enormous barriers to entry in certain sectors and where the BBC sees opportunities to open the economy up in the interest of the country, we do so.
Nowhere is this imbalance more apparent than in our energy sector.
The country’s energy policy is dictated by a single entity, Eskom, and most of our power today comes from coal and diesel – much dirtier compared to what the current risk mitigation programme is trying to achieve.
To solve this problem, the department of mineral resources and energy (DMRE) has detailed an integrated resource plan that correctly proposes an energy mix which includes a significant effort to further develop renewables.
However, this energy mix, though commendable, is not aligned with South Africa’s infrastructure capabilities as of right now.
The figures speak for themselves. At the time of writing, South Africa’s total demand for electricity is 33 340MW, whilst our total generation capacity is 30 384MW.
Of this total generation, only 609MW were provided by renewable energy.
Because of this severe lack of supply, we have constant load shedding, essentially holding the entire country to ransom.
How can we attract investment without electricity? How can we expect small businesses who cannot afford generators to function? The ripple effects of having no electricity cannot be overstated. More must be done to prioritise our energy security. Progress, albeit slow, is being made.
Despite the challenges, the country has a good policy direction. It is the implementation that is lacking and legislative delays are not helping. Government issued procurement programmes such as the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, that clearly outline the country’s need for a more sustainable energy mix.
As one of the preferred bidders, Karpowership was awarded three projects to provide up to 1 220MW of power to South Africa – enough to cancel out an entire stage of load shedding.
The model being offered by Karpowership is exactly what is needed for the country.
Under the terms of the agreement, Karpowership will provide energy for 20 years, a huge boost to our energy security. Their projects also run exclusively on liquid natural gas (LNG), a flexible medium that can be phased out in the long term, and it complements renewables.
The floating powership solution is perfect for this transition – there are no land storage facilities or burdensome infrastructure that will need to be decommisioned and removed, as our need for fossil fuels dwindles over time. The ships simply unmoor and sail away.
We therefore have a readymade solution to load shedding and with that our reliance on coal and diesel, but there needs to be a broader national conversation to support this. Europe and much of Asia are embracing LNG – but it’s an opportunity we aren’t taking.
We have seen first-hand the genuine excitement growing in the communities where Karpowership projects will take place.
It is an opportunity SA is not taking, while it is a perfect solution for now