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Eskom says that Karpowership will not be integrated into the South African power grid after missing a 31 December 2023 deadline – despite several previous extensions.
The Turkish company, which provides gas-powered power ships, was named as one of the preferred bidders in the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP) launched by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) in 2020.
The programme aimed at procuring a total of 2,000 MW from a range of sources, including gas, solar photovoltaic (PV), wind, battery energy storage systems (BESS) and/or hybrid technologies.
Although 11 preferred bidders were announced by the Independent Power Producer Office (IPPO) in 2021, only seven of these projects have since reached commercial close, moving into the construction phase.
“The remaining four projects were issued with five budget quotes, with one of the projects consisting of two gas and PV facilities located in the Eastern Cape and Northern Cape, respectively,” Eskom said.
“Eskom wishes to inform the public that five budget quotes for the grid integration of the remaining four projects in the RMIPPPP expired on 31 December 2023 and will not be extended further. This is after several budget quote validity period extensions were requested and granted by Eskom in an effort to assist in ensuring the success of these projects.”
“Eskom finds the expiration of the budget quotes regrettable as these projects were aimed at bringing much-needed additional generation capacity to the grid to alleviate pressure on the power system and minimise the impact of load shedding.”
Eskom said that its governance processes mean that projects need to be delivered expeditiously within approved timelines, scope and costs. These affected budget quotes had extensions ranging between 20 and 30 months.
This means that the costs, timelines and scopes of works indicated in the budget are no longer valid from 1 January 2024.
The following table summarises the affected projects, including the Coega, Saldanha and Richards Bay power ships, which would produce 1,220 MW (roughly one stage of load shedding).
The Gemsbok PV and Mulilo Coega Gas to Power Plant are from a single preferred bidder
project and have a combined dispatchable capacity of 200 MW, meaning that the total contracted dispatchable energy from these projects would be 1,400 MW.
“The grid connection capacity that was provisionally reserved for these projects will revert to the pool of
available capacity and will be allocated in accordance with the Interim Grid Capacity Allocation Rules to
other projects that are ready to connect and generate much-needed electricity required by South Africa,” Eskom said.
“All affected customers have been duly informed of this decision and advised to apply for new budget quotes, which Eskom will process accordingly.”
Read: Eskom could end up with customers who can’t or won’t pay: De Ruyter
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