REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: KARPOWERSHIP SOUTH AFRICA

The Centre for Environmental Rights, on behalf of Fair Finance Southern Africa (FFSA), is questioning the Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) about a US$ 140 million loan provided to Karpowership. The letter highlights environmental and legal concerns regarding Karpowership SA's projects in Coega, Richards Bay, and Saldanha, including the refusal of environmental authorisations by the DFFE and the potential for high methane emissions. FFSA seeks to clarify if MCB's financing ultimately supports these South African operations and how the bank assesses the associated material and climate risks.

• Karpowership SA, a joint venture between Karpowership (51%) and Powergroup (49%), planned three floating gas-to-power vessels with 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.
• The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) refused environmental authorisations for all three projects in 2021 and subsequently dismissed an appeal, citing procedural irregularities, inadequate public participation, and a lack of information on environmental and socioeconomic impacts.
• The projects are criticised for prolonging South Africa's reliance on fossil fuels and potentially emitting 80 to 142 million tonnes CO2e of greenhouse gas over 20 years due to methane, which has a global warming potential 84-86 times that of carbon dioxide over 20 years.
• 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.
• The licenses granted by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) are under legal challenge by a civil society organisation, alleging that NERSA failed to act in South Africa's interests and that the 20-year contracts will not resolve the power crisis but will create an expensive long-term obligation.

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} }