Cape Town - Karpowership SA will not be backing down after setbacks to all three of its projects to supply 1 220 megawatts of emergency electricity.
The Turkish company is assessing its options in South Africa after further delays in its proposed gas-to-power projects in Saldanha Bay, Richards Bay and the Port of Ngqura (Coega).
The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) recently refused to grant environmental authorisation for Karpowership SA’s project in Coega harbour, and Karpowership temporarily withdrew the application for its Richards Bay project.
Meanwhile, the Saldanha Bay application has been suspended by the department pending an investigation into allegations made by eco-justice organisation The Green Connection that its environmental consultants misrepresented small-scale fishers.
These setbacks follow three years of delays in its gas-to-power projects with litigation and major opposition.
In 2021, the Turkish company was denied environmental authorisation (and subsequent appeals) by the DFFE as a result of gaps in its public consultation processes, but was granted a second chance to apply for environmental authorisation.
In a statement, Karpowership SA said it was disappointed at the DFFE’s recent decision to deny the company environmental authorisation for its gas-to-power project in Coega, and that it remained fully prepared to work alongside the DFFE and relevant authorities to find a solution beneficial to all involved, but most of all, one which benefits the South African people.
The Turkish company said that for the past three years, it has been subjected to many unfounded allegations about its projects which delayed its objective of delivering electricity to the nation amid its energy crisis.
“As Karpowership SA, we are fully aware of how devastating load shedding is to South Africa’s people and economy … Delaying these LNG-topower projects is harmful to the environment and the economy.”
The Green Connection said: “We are happy the department is investigating our complaint (in Saldanha Bay) and are confident they will find in our favour. Hopefully now authorities can focus on bringing affordable and appropriate energy to the grid, to address the load shedding.”
On the recent withdrawal of the application for Karpowership SA’s Richards Bay project, the company said: “Following the completion of our secondary environmental impact assessment, we were alerted to an administrative error regarding the public participation process for the Richards Bay site. As a result, our environmental consultants withdrew the application to resolve the compliance issue.”
kristin.engel@inl.co.za