Istanbul-based Karadeniz Energy boasts the world’s largest fleet of powerships—a special purpose floating, mobile powerplant. Its fleet contains 16 vessels totaling 3.3GW capacity. 18 more, totaling 5GW, are under construction or ‘in the pipeline’. The dual fuel engine units, operating in combined cycle mode, can in theory run on gas but in reality mostly run on fuel oil (countries with a gas network are unlikely to need powerships).
The firm sells itself as a ‘fast track’ solution that delivers power within 90 days anywhere on earth, but as CEO Orhan Karadeniz told the FT in 2013, troubled Middle Eastern and African customers are the ‘usual suspects’. Evidently Lebanon fits the bill (MEES, 22 February 2013). Two 203MW powerships have provided Lebanon with about 20% of its power since 2013 (MEES, 22 February 2013). (CONTINUED - 217 WORDS)
