Floating power plants operator Karpowership has reportedly signed an agreement to supply electricity to the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority of Sierra Leone over five years.
Neither of the companies have given financial details of the deal.
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Reuters reported that under the agreement, Karpowership will add 5MW of power to the country’s existing capacity.
Turkish company Karadeniz Energy Group owns Karpowership, which has two power ships moored off the coast of capital Freetown. These already supply nearly 80% of the contracted electricity to Sierra Leone under a contract signed in 2018.
Only 5% of the country’s citizens have access to electricity. Karpowership says the generation capacity of Sierra Leone is insufficient to supply its seven million citizens. As a result of this, the region experiences lengthy blackouts, even in the capital and urban areas.
Karpowership powerships will generate approximately 63MW of electricity during the dry season, and 23MW during the wet season.
The company’s vessels use dual-fuels, powered using either heavy fuel oil or liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Currently, Karpowership supplies nearly 4,100MW of power through its fleet of power ships to eight African nations as well as in Cuba, Asia and the Middle East.
In September 2016, General Electric (GE) agreed to supply 16 power transformers to Karpowership. The transformers were installed in four new ships with a total installed capacity of 1GW. They provide short-term power supply by connecting to the electrical grid.
