Turkish Power Plant Ship Heads to Cuba

A floating power plant known as a “power ship” is headed to the Port of Mariel under the terms of an agreement between the Ministry of Energy’s company Energoimport and the Turkish company Karadeniz Holding.

Cuba now belongs to a group of nine countries which have floating power plants, known as “Karpowerships”, manufactured by Turkey’s Karadeniz Holdings for the generation of electricity. Cuba is the first country in the Latin American region to benefit from this unique method of producing power.

The ship was built in the Karmarine shipyard and departed from the port of Yalova, in the sea of Marmara, in western Turkey. In the send off ceremony for the “Karadeniz Baris Bey“, the President and Vice-President of the company, Osman and Orhan Karadeniz, Cuba’s ambassador to Turkey, Luis Amorós Núñez and the Electrical Union of Cuba (UNE)’s Director, Lázaro Guerra, were present for the departure.

The power plant will be connected to the grid to supply the National Electric System of Cuba for a period of four years and will generate 160 MW of electricity.

Cuba and Turkey share bilateral relations. Recently, a Turkish delegation met in Havana to explore business opportunities. In 2018, the Turkish company Global Ports Holding (GPH) signed an agreement with Cuba’s Aries business entity for the management and expansion of the cruise port of Havana.

The two nations are interested in expanding business relations in agriculture, biotechnology, transportation and tourism sectors.