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Ministry of Environment suspends environmental assessment for Karpowership project.
- Green Connection NGO alleges Karpowership breached EIA regulations
- DNG Energy also seeking to overturn the bidding process
The South African Ministry of Environment has suspended the Environment Assessment approval for the Karpowership power project. Turkish firm, Karpowership, won the bid for the generation of 1200MW additional electricity to make up for inadequate supply in the country.
The halt in the approval process comes following a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Green Connection complaint. Green Connection alleges Karpowership failed to carry out the required Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) on the underwater noise impacts of floating power ships on fishing, marine ecology and aquaculture development zones. This halt in the approval process may hinder Karpowership’s Financial closure on the Risk Mitigation IPP Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP).
Environmental Assessment partner Hantie Plomp for Karpowership sent a letter informing the company of the Ministry of Environments decision. ”You are hereby informed of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment’s [DFFE] decision to suspend the application for authorisation and associated timeframes due to allegations made by Green Connection. The extended timeframe for the processing of the application will be communicated once a decision on the matter has been reached in terms of Regulation 14 [5] of the EIA Regulations”, the letter read.
This setback comes as DNG Energy has also asked the Courts to cancel the bid process. DNG Energy alleges fraud in the process that saw the emergence of Karpowership as the successful bidder.