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Turkey’s Karpowership anchors seventh

floating power plant off energy-short Cuba

TURKEY’S Karpowership has reportedly between Cuban officials and Karpowership for
anchored a seventh floating power plant off- more floating power plants centered on how to
shore Cuba to help ease the Caribbean island ensure lease payments from Cuba. One source
nation’s energy crisis. was quoted by the news agency as saying: “The
With residents of Cuba suffering hours-long [US trade] embargo [on Cuba] makes Western
blackouts every day, Karpowership, which is financial transactions very difficult, and Cuba is
owned by Turkish conglomerate Karadeniz cash short and behind on payments with many
Holding, was now set to make an additional 110 suppliers and joint venture partners.” ™
MW of electricity generating capacity, or about
10% the average daily shortfall, by the end of
the month, the Turkish daily Sabah reported on
November 16.
Altogether, the seven floating power plants
are said to have a generation capacity of 400
MW.
The Karpowership vessels carry shipboard
generators fuelled by petroleum products or
natural gas. They are typically leased by a host
country or utility customers.
As of late August, there were reportedly five
such Karpowership vessels anchored off Cuba,
with a combined capacity of 250MW.
Reuters quoted sources as saying that Cuba
needed more than 3,000 MW of generating
capacity to meet minimum power demand but
had access to only 2,000-2,500 MW. The Karadeniz Powership Barış Bey has been operating in Port de Mariel under
The sources reportedly said that the talks a contract with Cuba’s Energoimport since June 2019 (Photo: Karapowership)

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
Port of Spain hopes to wrap up deepwater

bidding round soon, energy minister says

TRINIDAD and Tobago’s Ministry of Energy ministry was close to reaching its goal. “The bids
and Energy Industries (MEEI) has evaluated all have come in, the evaluation teams have done
four of the bids received in the country’s deep- their work and the Ministry of Energy is going
water licensing round and intends to present to the Cabinet with a recommendation,” he said
its recommendations to the cabinet in the near to the news agency. “We have slipped a little bit
future, according to Stuart Young, the head of on that time frame, [but] the evaluation is over.”
the ministry. Young was speaking to Reuters shortly after
Young acknowledged last week that MEEI David Campbell, the president of BP Trinidad
had not been able to name the winners of the and Tobago (bpTT), urged Port of Spain to
auctions in September as planned but stressed speed up assessment of the offers submitted for
that officials in Port of Spain were eager to wrap four of the 17 blocks included in the deepwater
up the competitive bidding process soon. He did licensing round. Campbell said bpTT hoped to
not comment on the reasons for the delay or say see MEEI move forward as quickly as possible so
exactly when the choices might be announced. that it could secure access to additional quanti-
He did inform Reuters, however, that the ties of natural gas.

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 46 16•November•2022