Karpowership, a Turkish company specializing in floating power plants, has become a key player in Gabon’s energy landscape. According to Evans Damada, the company’s Gabon country director, the two powerships anchored off Libreville and Port-Gentil are now supplying 150 megawatts to the national grid—equivalent to nearly 25% of the country’s available generating capacity. This substantial contribution highlights both Gabon’s persistent electricity challenges and the urgency of finding fast, scalable solutions.
Rapid integration into Gabon’s power network
The sharp rise in Karpowership’s role in Gabon’s electricity mix happened in just a few months. The operator stepped in to address chronic power shortages affecting homes and businesses across the country. The appeal of Turkish powerships lies in their mobility—they can be towed to new locations and connected to the grid within weeks, compared to the multi-year timelines required for traditional land-based power plants.
Gabon now joins a growing list of African nations relying on Istanbul-based Karpowership, including Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Gambia, and Mozambique. The business model relies on long-term power purchase agreements, typically priced in dollars and billed per kilowatt-hour produced. This financial arrangement has sparked repeated debates in several African capitals over the budgetary strain caused by energy imports tied to volatile oil and gas prices.
Energy security and strategic implications
For Gabonese authorities, the 150 MW injection provides immediate relief. The Société d’énergie et d’eau du Gabon (SEEG) has long struggled to meet rising demand driven by rapid urbanization, expanding special economic zones, and a resurgence of mining projects. With electricity generation relying on a mix of hydropower, natural gas, and fuel oil, aging infrastructure has left the country with shrinking operational flexibility.
Yet this reliance on a single provider raises strategic concerns. Controlling 25% of the grid’s capacity gives Karpowership significant negotiating leverage, especially as Gabon seeks to capitalize on its domestic gas reserves and strengthen energy sovereignty. Since the August 2023 political transition, the new leadership has prioritized infrastructure revival—balancing the need for quick fixes with long-term planning.
Bridging the gap toward local power generation
Evans Damada describes Karpowership’s role as a temporary measure to bridge the gap between current demand and the gradual rollout of new domestic capacity. Gabon has several projects in development, including the Kinguélé Aval hydropower dam—a partnership between Meridiam and Gabon Power Company—as well as offshore gas-powered plants. Once these facilities come online, they are expected to gradually reduce the share of powerships in the energy mix.
In the meantime, the Turkish fleet remains central to the grid’s operations. The vessels supply base-load power to Greater Libreville and the industrial corridor of the Estuary province. Maintenance is handled by mixed teams of Turkish and Gabonese technicians, with limited local training initiatives—a gap authorities hope to close as part of broader knowledge transfer goals.
Looking ahead, the question isn’t whether Gabon can eventually phase out Karpowership, but how it will renegotiate the terms of its power supply. Upcoming challenges include tariff discussions, contract durations, and integrating domestic gas into the national energy mix. Industry observers note that the Turkish operator intends to remain a long-term partner in Gabon’s electricity sector.
