Corrected on 08.08.2024

As an attempt to contact a source at the Port of Maputo failed, yesterday, August 7, 2024, we shared, in this article, erroneous information about the identity of a vessel moored at the Port of Maputo. The original publication remains below for your reference. We sincerely apologize for this and present the correct information shared today by Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM).

According to a statement issued by Electricidade de Moçambique to which we have had access, the ship shown in the picture is a Floating Power Generation Plant based on Natural Gas. It is moored at the Port of Maputo for visits and belongs to the Turkish company Karpowership.

The floating plant has an installed capacity of 470 MW. It arrived in Maputo from Indonesia, having traveled along the African coast in the Indian Ocean. Its final destination is the Canary Islands. It must first pass the Cape of Good Hope, in South Africa, and then sail the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

The aim of the vessel in the Mozambican capital, Port of Maputo, is to "show the nature of the infrastructure and provide more information on its management and operation". The plant will leave the country on Friday (09).

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Previous publication, (07.08.2024)

One more Karpower Global DMCC (Karpowership) ship-usina is already floating in the territorial waters of Maputo Bay, as shown in the featured image, whose authorship we don't know. But "against facts there are no arguments". Good for business and hellish for environmentalists is the project to be implemented with the Turkish floating platform.

The energy infrastructure is expected to produce 415 megawatts of energy. During the operational phase, it is expected to be installed in the Espírito Santo Estuary, between the "Port" cities of Maputo and Matola, in Maputo province. The Floating Thermoelectric Plant will generate energy using heavy fuel oil (HFO), one of the world's most polluting energy resources. Fuel oil is dense, viscous, toxic and harmful; it is the part discarded after refining crude oil to extract, among other things, gasoline, diesel and kerosene (lamp oil), and contains all the worst chemical compounds from this process.

The South African company Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. is to buy this energy generated from the polluting source. It is estimated that this will be the case for at least three years, with a switch to the use of liquefied natural gas produced in the country to generate energy in the ship-mill.

The deal is being developed in partnership with Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM), which will be able to buy 150MW of energy from the power plant for the domestic market.

Karpowership already has another project, "Karadeniz Powership Mehmet Bey", in Nacala, Nampula province, which has been operating since 2016. It's a floating power station with the capacity to generate 110MW. In this project, the company promised to abandon the use of fuel oil by 2019, but it's been five years and nothing has changed.

The death of life in Maputo

Due to its environmental impact on life, Europe, which is experiencing the worst energy crisis of all time, has banned the use of HFO. For the same reasons, the same project was thrown out of South Africa after a titanic struggle in the courts. In open waters, it will anchor in Maputo. It is said that it is the company's habit to violate the environment.

This project brings with it the "cardinal" sin for life in Maputo. It is estimated that humans, wildlife and marine life will suffer from the environmental impacts.

In the operational phase, the project will dump the "garbage of garbage" into the waters. This will have a direct impact on the marine life of Maputo Bay; it will cause the salt pans of Matola to disappear, burning the jobs of more than 600 people. National table salt could evaporate from the tables of more than three million people, mainly in the south of the country. Fishing activity will be affected, as the "garbage of garbage" will be dumped within an estimated radius of three kilometers. Dirty and hot water will be discharged into the sea. There are fears that fuel oil will be spilled and the entire marine biodiversity of Maputo province will be killed.

The project could affect the quality of the already lousy air that is breathed throughout Maputo province due to the emission of polluting and greenhouse gases. This could lead to more respiratory diseases and cancers. The work could generate noise pollution on the surface and underwater. The Port of Maputo could also be negatively affected by the project.

As of November 2022, no environmental study had yet been carried out on this project, but preliminary assessments pointed to apocalyptic scenarios for Maputo, including at a socio-economic level.

The project has already undergone two public consultations, one in November 2022 and the other in December 2023.

The project's budget is still "secret of the gods".