KARPOWERSHIP plans to expand its 36-strong fleet in the next five years as electricity demand rebounded in developing countries following a drop during the pandemic.
“We are making investments to increase our capacity from 6,000 MW to 10,000 MW in the next three to five years,” Zeynep Harezi, chief commercial officer at the Turkish floating utility company, said in an interview.
The company is supplying electricity from 28 of its floating vessels to several countries including Brazil, Dominica, Guinea-Bissau, Ghana and Mozambique. It is considering options to supply electricity to Ukraine.
“Ukraine had an electricity shortage of around 1,000 MW,” she said. “But the country now has a surplus of power because of weaker industrial demand and warming weather. They will likely require additional supply in winter.”
Karpowership, which signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ukrainian utility to supply electricity via Moldova, has the flexibility to quickly supply electricity to Ukraine, as eight of its floating vessels are available.
It converts vessels from several different segments such as semi-submersibles, capesizes and panamaxes to install electricity generation units on board at four different Turkish shipyards. The dual-fuel floating fleet can produce power from oil and natural gas.
The company, which owns and operates its fleet of floating utility vessels, is also mulling options for decarbonisation with plans to use alternative fuels.
“If our customers prefer, we can bunker our vessels with biodiesel. We are also exploring options to see how we can use green hydrogen and ammonia.”
It is also active in the liquefied natural gas sector with its 50/50 joint venture with Mitsui OSK Lines called Karmol operating five floating storage regasification units, also called FSRUs.
The private company is a subsidiary of Turkish conglomerate Karadeniz Holding.