REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: KARPOWERSHIP SOUTH AFRICA

The Centre for Environmental Rights, on behalf of Fair Finance Southern Africa (FFSA), sent a request for information to Türkiye İş Bankası A.Ş. (Isbank) regarding its role in financing Karpowership, a joint venture operating in South Africa. The letter highlights environmental and legal challenges facing the project and questions the bank's alignment with its Net Zero Banking Initiative commitments.

• Karpowership South Africa (Karpowership SA) is a joint venture between Karpowership (51% ownership) and Powergroup (49% ownership), consisting of three subsidiaries located in Coega, Richards Bay, and Saldanha. The project aims for a total installed capacity of 1,220 MW, distributed as 450 MW in Coega, 450 MW in Richards Bay, and 320 MW in Saldanha, under a 20-year contract as part of the government's Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP).
• The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) refused environmental authorisations for all three Karpowerships in 2021 and subsequently dismissed an appeal by Karpowership SA. The refusals were based on "procedural irregularities" including "inadequate public participation" and a "lack of information related to actual and potential environmental and socioeconomic impacts".
• The projects are criticized for prolonging reliance on fossil fuels and potentially emitting 80 to 142 million tonnes CO2e of greenhouse gas over 20 years due to methane emissions. This is equivalent to the annual emissions of approximately 17.2 to 30.5 million petrol-based passenger vehicles.
• Research by the institute Profundo indicates that a syndicate of four banks—Standard Chartered (UK), Investec Group (South Africa), Isbank (Turkey), and MCB Group (Mauritius)—provided a US$ 140 million loan to Karpowership in March 2020 for general corporate purposes, maturing in March 2025. FFSA concludes this loan is intended to finance Karpowership SA operations.
• The licenses granted by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) are under legal challenge by a civil society organization. The challenge alleges that NERSA failed to act in South Africa's interests and that the 20-year contracts will not resolve the power crisis but will instead create an "expensive long-term contract".

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2022). REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: KARPOWERSHIP SOUTH AFRICA. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Letter-to-Isbank-re-Karpowership-SA.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: KARPOWERSHIP SOUTH AFRICA. 2022. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Letter-to-Isbank-re-Karpowership-SA.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: KARPOWERSHIP SOUTH AFRICA |date=September 2022 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Letter-to-Isbank-re-Karpowership-SA.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2022request, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: KARPOWERSHIP SOUTH AFRICA}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2022}, month = sep, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Letter-to-Isbank-re-Karpowership-SA.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }