GHANA Powership to give more light

 

 

 

Ghana is set to add power to its electricity grid by using a “powership”‚ a ship designed to produce electricity.

The Karadeniz Powership Aysegül Sultan‚ capable of producing 235MW‚ was launched on Tuesday and set sail for Ghana from Tuzla Sedef Dockyard in Turkey.

Powership: Ghana to use floating power plants to boost grid

Powership: Ghana to use floating power plants to boost grid2
Ghana's powership being inaugurated in Instabul, Turkey. Photo credit: Edward Kwabi

Ghana’s powership being inaugurated in Instabul, Turkey. Photo credit: Edward Kwabi

Karadeniz‚ a Turkish energy company based in Istabul‚ owns a fleet of floating power plants which are hired out to countries needing additional power. Countries such as Iraq‚ Liberia and Indonesia have used these sources of power.

The powerships produce electricity through the use of natural gas or heavy fuel oil‚ which is then fed into the grid of the recipient country.

 

 

The Electricity Company of Ghana‚ which is affiliated to the country’s Ministry of Energy‚ signed an electricity procurement agreement with Karpowership Ghana Company‚ a subsidiary of Karadeniz Holding. The agreement will see two powerships delivered to the country to provide a total of 450MW of power to Ghana’s grid.

 

 

According to Karadeniz‚ South Africa’s Department of Energy’s “Gas to Power Plan” has identified Power barges as a potential source of energy for South Africa. The company says: “South Africa currently uses Open-Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs) through the majority of the day to meet some of the excess peak demand. OCGTs run on diesel and are an expensive energy option. Karpowership can replace OCGTs and generate electricity at approximately R1.80 per Kwh all in‚ which is 22% cheaper than OCGTs. This would amount to a saving of R26 billion per year for South Africa.”