REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: KARPOWERSHIP SOUTH AFRICA

A letter from the Centre for Environmental Rights, on behalf of Fair Finance Southern Africa (FFSA), requesting information from the Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) regarding its role in financing Karpowership, specifically in relation to proposed floating gas-to-power projects in South Africa.

• Karpowership South Africa (Karpowership SA) is a joint venture between Karpowership (51% ownership) and Powergroup (49% ownership). The company operates three subsidiaries located in Coega, Richards Bay, and Saldanha, with a combined total installed capacity of 1,220 MW (450 MW in Coega, 450 MW in Richards Bay, and 320 MW in Saldanha). These projects are part of the South African government's Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP) emergency power procurement initiative under a 20-year contract.
• 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 reasons for these decisions included procedural irregularities, such as inadequate public participation and a lack of information regarding potential socioeconomic and environmental impacts.
• The projects are criticized for prolonging South Africa's reliance on fossil fuels and compromising its Just Energy Transition. Research cited in the letter suggests that full cycle methane emissions from the three vessels over 20 years would be approximately 80 to 142 million tonnes CO2e, which is equivalent to the annual emissions of 17.2 to 30.5 million petrol-based passenger vehicles.
• Licenses granted by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) are being legally challenged by a South African civil society organization. The challenge is based on claims that NERSA failed to act in the interests of South Africa, failed to provide adequate reasons, and ignored the fact that the 20-year emergency contracts would tie the country to an expensive long-term contract without resolving the power crisis.
• Research by 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 that the ultimate purpose of this loan is to finance the operations of Karpowership SA.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2022). REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: KARPOWERSHIP SOUTH AFRICA. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Letter-to-MCB-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-MCB-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-MCB-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-MCB-re-Karpowership-SA.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }