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 Standard Chartered Bank regarding its role in financing Karpowership South Africa. The letter highlights environmental concerns, legal challenges, and potential contradictions with the bank's net-zero commitments.

• Karpowership South Africa is a joint venture between Karpowership (51% ownership) and Powergroup (49% ownership), operating three subsidiaries in Coega, Richards Bay, and Saldanha with a total installed capacity of 1,220 MW. The projects are part of the South African government’s Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP) emergency power procurement initiative under 20-year contracts.
• 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 cited included procedural irregularities, inadequate public participation, and a lack of information regarding environmental and socioeconomic impacts.
• The projects are criticized for prolonging reliance on fossil fuels and hindering the Just Energy Transition. It is estimated 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.
• 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 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 argues 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 obligation.

APA

Govindsamy, L., & Tyler-Davies, G. (2022). REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: KARPOWERSHIP SOUTH AFRICA. Centre for Environmental Rights. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Letter-to-Standard-Chartered-UK-re-Karpowership-SA.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Govindsamy, Leanne, and Glen Tyler-Davies. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: KARPOWERSHIP SOUTH AFRICA. Centre for Environmental Rights, 2022. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Letter-to-Standard-Chartered-UK-re-Karpowership-SA.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Govindsamy |first1=Leanne |last2=Tyler-Davies |first2=Glen |title=REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: KARPOWERSHIP SOUTH AFRICA |publisher=Centre for Environmental Rights |date=September 2022 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Letter-to-Standard-Chartered-UK-re-Karpowership-SA.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{govindsamy2022request, author = {Govindsamy, Leanne and Tyler-Davies, Glen}, 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-Standard-Chartered-UK-re-Karpowership-SA.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }