Turkey's Karpowership, one of the world's largest operators of floating power plants, will deliver a fifth such ship to Cuba as the Caribbean Island country is moving forward in its search for alternatives to reinforce the country's electricity generation.
The vessel is expected to arrive in Cuba in the coming weeks, according to the nation’s official news agency, Prensa Latina.
The news was shared by Cuban Minister of Energy and Mines Livan Arronte Cruz.
He said via a Twitter statement that his country finalized an agreement with the Turkish company Karadeniz Holding, which owns Karpowership, for the delivery of another floating power plant that will contribute 15 megawatts (MW) to the national electro-energy system.
This new vessel will complement the four existing ones, located in Havana Bay and near the Maximo Gomez Baez of Mariel Thermoelectric Power Plant in Artemisa.
Floating power plants can meet the energy needs of countries in a short time with turnkey installation and can be easily connected to national grids.
In October 2018, Karpowership signed a contract with Unión Eléctrica de Cuba (UNE), the state electricity company of Cuba, to deploy three Powerships of 110 MW in total for a period of 51 months. Karadeniz Powership Barış Bey and Karadeniz Powership Esra Sultan started operation in Port de Mariel in July 2019 and Karadeniz Powership Ela Sultan started operations in November 2019.
In November 2019, the contract capacity was increased to 184 MW.
Cuba is Karpowership’s first project in the Western Hemisphere.
Cuba is said to routinely experience blackouts, partly because of spotty delivery of imported fuel for UNE's oil-fired plants, according to a report. Some of Cuba's Soviet-era plants burn domestic heavy crude, and others use diesel.
