South Africa is seeking to relocate a Turkish Karpowership generator ship—previously rejected on environmental grounds—to Maputo Bay, where it would operate in partnership with the Mozambican state electricity company EDM. The 415 MW floating power plant would be connected to a 4 km transmission line feeding the Matola substation, with most of the electricity destined for export to South Africa via existing interconnections. The project, first reported by Zitamar in November 2023 and later by Bloomberg in March 2024, aims to begin production in October using heavy fuel oil, with a promised conversion to liquefied natural gas (LNG) within three years.
The background to this proposal lies in a decade of state capture and corruption at Eskom, South Africa’s state electricity utility, which has left the country chronically short of power and subject to rolling blackouts. One earlier plan to anchor three Karpowership floating generators at the ports of Richards Bay, Ngqura (Coega), and Saldanha was rejected on 10 March by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) on environmental grounds. Karpowership also demanded insurance or indemnity against South African state corruption—a request that was not met—prompting the shift to Mozambique.
EDM has confirmed to News24 that it is in talks with Eskom about the Maputo project. The proposal comes amid broader regional energy dynamics: the Mphanda Nkuwa dam, which could supply 4,300 MW to South Africa, remains unbuilt because Eskom has refused to purchase additional electricity from Mozambique for a decade, a stance linked to extensive corruption in South Africa’s coal sector.
Karpowership already operates a 115 MW floating plant in Nacala Harbour, also in partnership with EDM. From 2016 to 2018 the electricity generated there was sold to Zambia; thereafter EDM signed a ten‑year contract to take the power. Although Karpowership pledged to convert this plant from heavy oil to LNG, the conversion has not yet occurred.
Electricity, unlike coal, oil, or LNG, is a fungible commodity; power generated on a ship in Nacala was fed into the EDM grid and an equivalent amount was drawn from the grid at the border and sent to Zambia, 1,000 km away. The same mechanism would apply to electricity generated in Maputo and sold to South Africa. However, the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) now imposes a carbon tax on carbon‑intensive imports such as aluminium—one of Mozambique’s main exports to Europe—effectively requiring “green” electrons.
The Mozal aluminium smelting plant in Matola currently relies on green electricity from the Cahora Bassa hydro scheme, routed through South Africa, under a contract that expires in 2026. Mozal, now 64 % owned by Australian mining company South32, is eager to renew this contract. If the Karpowership ship supplies power to Mozal, the electrons would need to be classified as green by the time they travel the 10 km to the plant. Simultaneously, South Africa seeks green electrons to lower its own carbon footprint, which remains high due to heavy reliance on coal. Negotiations continue, and the Mphanda Nkuwa project has gained renewed importance as a potential source of green electricity for the region.
Comments are closed for this story.