MOL, Karpowership Unveil 1st LNG-to-Powership Project in Africa

Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and Turkey’s floating power plant company Karpower International (Karpowership) have agreed to jointly carry out the first LNG-to-Powership project in Mozambique under the co-brand KARMOL.

For this purpose, the duo will jointly own and operate a FSRU and a Powership floating power plant.

At the end of August, MOL and Karpowership made a presentation at Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) where they introduced the concept of LNG-to-Powership solution and outlines of the Mozambique project.

The LNG-to-Powership project consists of the collaborative operations of the FSRU to deliver regasified LNG and the Powership to receive regasified LNG in order to produce electricity, which is subsequently provided to Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM), the Mozambican National Power Utility, through the electricity connection and transmission facility.

As disclosed in March this year, the FSRU is being converted from an existing LNG carrier.

The Powership is currently operating with heavy fuel oil in Nacala but will be switched to operation with LNG after the FSRU delivery.

Remarking on the project, Max Tonela Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy of Mozambique, said: “This project contributes to our national strategy of increasing the availability and reducing the costs of fuel to generate electricity for industrial development and energy access. This project does it through LNG, a critical fuel for Mozambique’s future.”

According to MOL, KARMOL’s LNG-to-Powership solution with power generation capacity of 120MW is expected to create a stable and reliable supply of electricity for the people of Mozambique and, provide critical infrastructure for the use of LNG within Mozambican territory.

When completed, the project will be the first LNG-to-Power solution and FSRU project in Eastern and Southern Africa.