Turkey's Karpowership began construction of a new class of floating power plants, expanding its global powership fleet, the company said on June 25.

The project points to sustained demand for rapidly deployable electricity generation in markets facing power shortages, as the company builds out capacity that can connect directly to national grids where fixed infrastructure is lacking or delayed.

Construction began with a steel-cutting ceremony at the HSG Sungdong shipyard in South Korea. Each Sea Lion class vessel will provide 300 MW of installed capacity, equipped with three high-efficiency gas turbines in a combined-cycle configuration designed to improve fuel efficiency and cut emissions compared with land-based thermal plants.

"The Sea Lion class has been developed to meet increasing demand for rapidly deployable and reliable electricity solutions," the company said.

Measuring 136 metres in length with a shallow draft of 4.5 metres, the class is designed for deployment across a range of coastal locations. The four vessels are scheduled for sequential delivery between January and May 2028.

The vessels can begin supplying electricity in less than 30 days where grid infrastructure is available, the company said, offering a solution for countries seeking to address power shortages and improve energy security.

The Sea Lion class will join Karpowership's existing fleet, which includes the Khan, Orca, Shark, Mermaid, Seal and Whale classes, with capacities ranging from 30 MW to 600 MW.

Karpowership owns and operates a fleet of 45 powerships with more than 8,000 MW of total capacity, and manages LNG procurement, offshore storage, regasification, liquefaction and ship-to-ship transfer through a fleet of 11 LNG vessels.