South Africa's gas-fired plans suffer blow

Different segments of the South African state are in dispute over plans to employ more gas-fired generation capacity, in the form of powerships

South Africa's plans to diversify its generation mix towards gas suffered a blow this month, after the country's Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) rejected plans for three gas-fired powerships. South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) made Karpowership SA—the South African subsidiary of Turkey’s Karpowership—the preferred bidder for all three of the powership projects. The vessels were to be moored offshore and supplied with LNG to generate power for South Africa’s overburdened power grid. But the DFFE has now rejected the plans on the grounds of environmental impact assessments, although there is a potential appeals process. The DMRE says i