Power ships as a short-term solution to mitigating South Africa's energy crisis

The document examines the proposal by Karadeniz Holdings to provide power ships to South Africa to address a depleting reserve supply margin caused by inadequate investment in generation capacity since 1994 and delays at Medupi and Kusile. While power ships are presented as a more efficient and cheaper alternative to Eskom's diesel-powered open cycle gas turbines (OCGTs)—costing R2.00 to R2.50/kWh compared to R3.00 to R4.50/kWh—Eskom has expressed skepticism, arguing that a 310MW capacity is too small for the national grid. The author notes that power ships remain significantly more expensive than solar and wind power from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and suggests that opening the market to IPPs may offer better short- and long-term benefits.

• South Africa's reserve supply margin has declined primarily due to a lack of investment in new generation capacity since 1994, compounded by cost overruns and delays at the Medupi and Kusile plants.
• Power ships are proposed as a more cost-effective alternative to Eskom's open cycle gas turbines (OCGTs), with estimated costs of R2.00 to R2.50/kWh compared to R3.00 to R4.50/kWh for OCGTs.
• Eskom has questioned the utility of the power ship proposal because its 310MW generation capacity is considered insufficient to feed into the national grid.
• Despite being cheaper than OCGTs, power ships are significantly more expensive than solar and wind energy from Independent Power Producers (IPPs), with solar projected at R0.54/kWh to R0.78kWh and wind at R0.60/kWh by 2030.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2015). Power ships as a short-term solution to mitigating South Africa's energy crisis. https://saiia.org.za/research/power-ships-as-a-short-term-solution-to-mitigating-south-africas-energy-crisis/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Power ships as a short-term solution to mitigating South Africa's energy crisis. 2015. https://saiia.org.za/research/power-ships-as-a-short-term-solution-to-mitigating-south-africas-energy-crisis/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Power ships as a short-term solution to mitigating South Africa's energy crisis |date=11 August 2015 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/power-ships-as-a-short-term-solution-to-mitigating-south-africas-energy-crisis/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2015power, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Power ships as a short-term solution to mitigating South Africa's energy crisis}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2015}, month = aug, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/power-ships-as-a-short-term-solution-to-mitigating-south-africas-energy-crisis/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }