Turkish power ship to provide Zambia with 100MW of electricity

Zambia has turned to Turkish power producers, Karadeniz; for 100 MW of electricity to help fix its ailing power sector.

The Turks are expected in the next two weeks to start supplying Zambia with electricity from a power-generating ship for a two year period.

Turkish power ship to supply electricity to Zambia: Turkey's Karadeniz will in the next two weeks begin supply… https://t.co/VDV1XtWODf

— EngineeringNews (@EngNewsZA) March 3, 2016

One of the company’s vessels is currently docked at Mozambique’s Nacala port, from where the power will be generated before being transmitted via a grid to Zambia.

The company builds floating power stations which plug into electricity grids after berthing, the power stations also known as power badges run on fuel oil but can also be operated with natural gas.

By this move, Zambia follows the lead of West African neighbours, Ghana; who are benefiting from a 225 MW facility since last year.

Karadeniz is looking to take advantage of chronic electricity shortages in Africa, the company said on Wednesday.

“Africa has a clear increasing demand for electricity and presents itself as a very good market for us,” business development director Zeynep Harezi told Reuters.

According to Harezi, several other African countries had expressed an interest in using Karadeniz power ships, which can be delivered in 120 days.

The 48 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, with a combined population of 800 million, produce roughly the same amount of power as Spain, a country of just 46 million. This constrains Africa’s growth and keeps hundreds of millions in poverty.

Given Africa’s huge electricity deficit, power ships can only offer a small, short-term boost to power output.