( 4 minutes read)
· The Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) is facilitating Senegal’s drive to improve its national electrification plan
· The bank will infuse US$ 60 million participation in the syndicated project finance facility of US$ 140 million to Turkey’s floating power plant company Karpowership, which is implementing the project
· The project involves implementation of 235 MW Powership alongside the shores of Dakar since August 2019
The Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) is facilitating Senegal’s drive to improve its national electrification plan. The bank will infuse US$ 60 million participation in the syndicated project finance facility of US$ 140 million to Turkey’s floating power plant company Karpowership, which is implementing the project. The project involves implementation of 235 MW Powership alongside the shores of Dakar from August 2019.
Karpowership signed an LNG-to-power contract with Senegal to deploy a floating Powership for a period of five and a half years in August 2019. The floating plant -Karadeniz Powership Ayşegül Sultan – started operations in October 2019. The power plant is meeting 15 percent of Senegal’s electricity.
Senegal is looking at reaching electrification rate to 100 per cent by 2025. It is also looking at the possibility of lowering electricity generation costs by reducing its dependence on imported liquid fuels and increasing electricity access to rural areas.
The Powership, which is presently using heavy fuel oil as feedstock will switch over to gas shortly. That will help the plant to reduce its carbon emission. By 2035 the plant will completely switch over to natural gas. Under the Sustainability Development Goal (“SDG”) of the UN, every country has to bring rural areas under electrification. the United Nations charter on Sustainable Development.
The Powership’s fuel transition will have a Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (“FSRU”). After successful sea trials, the FSRU has left Singapore and is expected in Senegal in the coming days. KARMOL is a joint venture between Karpowership and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.
The Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd (MCB) offers tailored and innovative solutions to a diversified client base, ranging from retail to corporate and institutions. MCB has presence in 10 countries overseas, via its subsidiaries in Madagascar, Seychelles and Maldives, its representative offices in Johannesburg, Nairobi, Paris and Dubai.