The World Bank\u2019s International Finance said it expressed interest in funding bidders in a South African tender for emergency power provision, including a Turkish supplier of gas-fired power plants on ships, putting it on course for a clash with climate activists.<\/p>\n
Karpowership, the Istanbul-based company, won the bulk of the bids in\u00a0March\u00a0and has until the end of July to secure funding and necessary approvals and agreements to make binding a pact to supply 1,220 megawatts of power for 20 years.<\/p>\n
The potential involvement of the IFC comes as environmental groups pressure investors, including development finance institutions, to halt investment in fossil fuels such coal, oil and natural gas. Most other bidders in the round relied at least partially on renewable energy.<\/p>\n
Activists and the main opposition party in South Africa unsuccessfully pressed for a parliamentary inquiry into the award of preferred bidder status to Karpowership, while a rival bidder sued to have the entire tender scrapped, alleging corruption.<\/p>\n
Karpowership has denied wrongdoing and said its bids were more competitive than others.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe IFC is not going to help advance economic development by supporting the harmful fuels and technologies of the past,\u201d\u00a0Friends of the Earth\u00a0United States<\/span>, an environmental group, said in a response to queries.<\/p>\n \u201cSupporting gas subjects countries to the risks of increasingly volatile pricing, lock-in of obsolete infrastructure and stranded assets.\u201d<\/p>\n Coal dependent<\/strong><\/p>\n The lender said no decisions have been taken yet and Karpowership declined to comment.<\/p>\n The interest is \u201csubject to a successful bid award and due diligence, among other factors,\u201d the IFC said in a response to questions.<\/p>\n There \u201chas been no formal engagement with Karpowership beyond this expression of interest,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n South Africa depends on coal for almost all its electricity generation and sought to procure 2,000 megawatts of emergency power because state-owned utility Eskom can\u2019t meet demand and has subjected the country to intermittent outages.<\/p>\n The IFC \u201cconsiders financing in natural gas projects that can expand access to energy for the poor and provide reliable power for industry, displace carbon-intensive coal and oil, and enable integration of a higher share of renewables into a country\u2019s economy,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
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