In a complaint filed with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries & the Environment, the Green Connection says the environmental assessment practitioner, Triplo4, failed to ensure compliance with environmental impact assessment regulations in conducting public participation processes.

BusinessLIVE reports that based on the misrepresentation, the group has asked the department to suspend Karpowership’s pending application for environmental authorisation and to fully investigate this allegation.

The Green Connection and lobby group Outa have brought separate court cases against the energy regulator’s decision to grant Karpowership SA generation licences.

In 2021 Karpowership SA, majority owned by a Turkish energy company, was appointed by the Department of Mineral Resources & Energy as one of the preferred bidders in the emergency energy procurement programme.

The bid included bringing its gas-to-power floating power stations to the ports of Coega, Saldanha and Richards Bay to generate about 1 200MW of power and supply this to the national grid.

Full BusinessLIVE report

See also full report in The Herald

Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe yesterday made a plea on behalf of Karpowership to be given a chance after he opened the Africa Energy Indaba.

Die Burger reports Mantashe said the Turkish company should not be chased up and down. It is already performing work in Ghana, Gabon, Brazil and the Ivory Coast.

Mantashe also defended the price of more than R1 per kWh by saying it is not expensive ‘compared to the cost of load shedding’.

Asked why the government favours gas over renewable energy, Mantashe said green energy is too unpredictable and basis load is needed.

‘The claim about how cheap renewable electricity is, is concealing facts and is part of the ideological-political debate.’

Full report in Die Burger (subscription needed)