Turkish firm Karpowership has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with state-owned trader JSC Energy Company of Ukraine (ECU) to enhance electricity supply cooperation and fast track the use of 500 megawatts (MW) floating power stations to alleviate the nation's energy crisis, according to a statement issued Thursday.
Karadeniz Holding-owned Karpowership and ECU will work alongside national and international organizations to develop and finance the implementation of 500 MW, enough to power over 1 million households.
Mooring in the Black Sea offshore Moldova and Romania with electricity connecting to Ukraine's grid via transmission lines are among the options being considered for floating power stations.
Karpowership and ECU will engage Moldovan and Romanian authorities to assess the viability of these two options.
"Karpowership is delighted to work with ECU to ease Ukraine's power crisis," Zeynep Harezi, Karpowership's chief commercial officer, was quoted as saying in the statement.
"Powerships are a fast, reliable, and flexible solution to the nation's electricity shortages, and we are ready to support Ukraine in getting the energy it needs as soon as possible."
The company has 36 powerships with a total capacity reaching 6 gigawatts.
Both parties have agreed to hold regular meetings to jointly develop and implement the project and work together to secure the necessary permits and approvals to collaborate with third parties, including international organizations, according to the statement.
"Ukraine's energy system has suffered 12 massive Russian attacks, resulting in damage to its power generation infrastructure and electricity shortages. While the war continues, building new power units to recover lost or damaged generation capacity is not a feasible option and we need to look for innovative solutions to the current crisis," said Vitaly Butenko, the Ukrainian company's CEO.
"Karpowership technology allows for rapid deployment of new power generation capacity which will be transferred to the Ukrainian grid. We believe this can create a regional paradigm shift for solving Ukraine's energy crisis while the nation's infrastructure is being subjected to Russian attacks,'" Butenko added.
Karpowership already operates across Africa, in New Caledonia and Brazil. The firm has been in talks with several European countries to supply as much as 2 GW of electricity via powerships to help ease the region's energy crisis.
