A maiden LNG cargo has arrived at the 125,000 cubic meter KARMOL LNGT Powership Africa, moored off the Senegalese capital Dakar since June 2021. Arrival of the first cargo – onboard a TotalEnergies-chartered tanker – helps the African nation to convert several power stations from oil to natural gas.
KARMOL, a joint venture between Karpowership and Mitsui OSK Lines, is for long active in Senegal: the Turkish company is already operating a 235 MW powership since August 2019, which covers around 15% of the country’s electricity needs.
Technically speaking, KARMOL’s technique of regasifying LNG onboard a specially designed FSRU for direct use in a Karpowership helps accelerate the roll-out of LNG-to-Power projects in countries with no domestic gas resources.
Going forward, the Turkish-Japanese joint venture wants to convert its entire fleet of Powerships to LNG. To that end, the JV already has another FSRU under construction which will be released shortly and is destined to be deployed offshore Mozambique.
Gokhan Kocak, KARMOL board member, said the company has a “bold ambition” to offer LNG to Power across the world and especially within Africa. “The usage of FSRUs mean we can unlock the benefits of clean and affordable electricity for millions of people, even where countries have no domestic gas production or infrastructure,” he explained.
