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Nuweveld North Wind Farm Nuweveld North Wind Farm Red Cap Nuweveld North (Pty) Ltd Avifaunal assessment October 2020 REPORT REVIEW & TRACKING Document title Nuweveld North Wind Farm - Avifaunal Impact study (Scoping Phase) Client name Patrick Killick Aurecon Status Final-for client Issue date October 2020 Lead author Jon Smallie – SACNASP 400020/06 WildSkies Ecological Services (Pty) Ltd 36 Utrecht Avenue, East London, 5241 Jon Smallie E: [email protected] C: 082 444 8919 F: 086 615 5654 2 Regulation GNR 326 of 4 December 2014, as amended 7 April 2017, Appendix 6 Section of Report (a) details of the specialist who prepared the report; and the expertise of that specialist to Appendix 5 compile a specialist report including a curriculum vitae ; (b) a declaration that the specialist is independent in a form as may be specified by the Appendix 6 competent authority; (c) an indication of the scope of, and the purpose for which, the report was prepared; Section 1.1 & 2 .1 an indication of the quality and age of base data used for the specialist report; Section 3 a description of existing impacts on the site, cumulative impacts of the proposed development Section 3.8 and levels of acceptable change; (d) the duration, date and season of the site investigation and the relevance of the season to Section 2.5 to 2.7 the outcome of the assessment; (e) a description of the methodology adopted in preparing the report or carrying out the Section 2 specialised process inclusive of equipment and modelling used; (f) details of an assessment of the specific identified sensitivity of the site related to the Section 3.7 & proposed activity or activities and its associated structures and infrastructure, inclusive of a Section 4 site plan identifying site alternatives; (g) an identification of any areas to be avoided, including buffers; Section 3.7 (h) a map superimposing the activity including the associated structures and infrastructure on Section 3.7 the environmental sensitivities of the site including areas to be avoided, including buffers; (i) a description of any assumptions made and any unc ertainties or gaps in knowledge; Section 2.11 (j) a description of the findings and potential implications of such findings on the impact of the Section 5 proposed activity, including identified alternatives on the environment, or activities; (k) any mitigation measures for inclusion in the EMPr; Section 5 (l) any conditions for inclusion in the environmental authorisation; Section 5 (m) any monitoring requirements for inclusion in the EMPr or environmental authorisation; Section 5 (n) a reasoned opinion— Section 7 i. as to whether the proposed activity, activities or portions thereof should be authorised; iA. Regarding the acceptability of the proposed activity or activities; and ii. if the opinion is that the proposed activity, activities or portions thereof should be authorised, any avoidance, management and mitigation measures that should be included in the EMPr or Environmental Authorization, and where applicable, the closure plan; (o) a summary and copies of any comments received during any consultation process and n/a to date where applicable all responses thereto; and (p) any other informa tion requested by the competent authority n/a to date Where a government notice gazetted by the Minister provides for any protocol or minimum Government information requirement to be applied to a specialist report, the requirements as indicated in Notice No. 320 has such notice will apply. been gazetted, and a verification report has been produced and the assessment follows the avifaunal protocol (Appendix 4) 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Red Cap Energy (Pty) Ltd (Red Cap) is proposing to develop up to three wind farms on a site in the Beaufort West Local Municipality, Central Karoo District Municipality, Western Cape. The wind farms are located approximately 65km north of Beaufort West and approximately 30km south of Loxton and are approximately 32 000 hectares in extent. The proposal also includes the development of an approximately ≤120km 132/400kV grid connection power line which will connect the proposed wind farms to the Eskom Droërivier Substation located south west of Beaufort West. The project is comprised of four discreet applications (3 wind farms & 1 grid connection) all subject to the Scoping and EIA process in terms of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA). This report deals with the Nuweveld North Wind Farm application and reaches the following conclusions regarding the avifaunal community and potential impacts of the Nuweveld North Wind Farm: » We classified nine species as top most priority for this assessment. Four of these are judged to be at high risk before avoidance and mitigation. These are: Ludwig's Bustard; Martial Eagle, Verreaux’s Eagle and Jackal Buzzard. Three species are at moderate risk: Karoo Korhaan, African Rock Pipit and Pale Chanting Goshawk. The Black Stork and Booted Eagle are deemed to be at low risk. » The key avifaunal aspect on site requiring management is the presence of a potential Martial Eagle nesting site. This is buffered in the sensitivity maps, where relevent. » Crude turbine collision fatality rates were calculated for each species in order to estimate how many birds the proposed Nuweveld North Wind Farm could kill. This calculation is considered to be a worst case scenario and is fraught with assumptions. It is estimated that approximately 0.54 bird fatalities could be recorded at Nuweveld North Wind Farm per year across the 9 target bird species recorded flying on site to date (Table 9). This includes the following priority species: 0.19 Jackal Buzzards; 0.10 Ludwig’s Bustards; 0.10 Verreaux’s Eagles; 0.05 Karoo Korhaans; 0.05 Pale Chanting Goshawks; 0.03 Martial Eagle; 0.02 Booted Eagles; 0.01 Black Stork; and 0.01 Rock Kestrel. Comparatively, these fatality rates are very low, reflecting the low flight activity rates by these species on site to date. Two of the key species for the site Verreaux’s Eagle and Martial Eagle have very low estimated fatality rates of 0.10 and 0.03 birds/year respectively. Based on the data collected on site we make the following findings with respect to impact significance for avifauna, according to the formal impact assessment methods provided by Aurecon. Impact Pre-mitigation Post-mitigation Nuweveld North Wind Farm Construction Phase Impact 1 – Habitat destruction Minor Minor Construction Phase Impact 2 - Disturbance Minor Minor Operational Phase Impact 1 – Disturbance Minor Minor Operational Phase Impact 2 – Displacement Minor Minor Operational Phase Impact 3 – Turbine collisions Moderate Moderate Operational Phase Impact 4 – Power line Collision & Electrocution Major Minor Decommissioning Phase Impact 1 – Disturbance Minor Minor Cumulative Impacts Construction Phase Impact 1 – Habitat destruction Moderate Moderate Construction Phase Impact 2 - Disturbance Moderate Minor Operational Phase Impact 1 – Disturbance Moderate Moderate Operational Phase Impact 2 – Displacement Moderate Moderate Operational Phase Impact 3 – Turbine collisions Moderate Moderate 4 Operational Phase Impact 4 – Power line Collision & Electrocution Major Minor Decommissioning Phase Impact 1 – Disturbance Moderate Minor Although extensive avoidance of impacts has already been applied on this project via a screening and constraints phase, we recommend the following additional mitigation measures be applied to manage and further reduce the significance of impacts on birds: » The No-Go areas identified by this study (which build on those identified in the screening and pre-app Scoping phase) should be adhered to. » A pre-construction avifaunal walk down should be conducted to confirm final layout and identify any sensitivities that may arise between the conclusion of the EIA process and the construction phase. » All construction activities should be strictly managed according to generally accepted environmental best practice standards, so as to avoid any unnecessary impact on the receiving environment. » A post construction inspection must be conducted by an avifaunal specialist to confirm that all aspects have been appropriately handled and in particular that road and hard stand verges do not provide additional substrate for raptor prey species. » Monitoring of the breeding status of Verreaux’s and Martial Eagles should be conducted in all breeding seasons post acceptance of the project as preferred bidder (to establish baseline) prior to and during construction. » Given that the impact of bird collision with turbines could occur once the wind farm is operational and require mitigation, we recommend strongly that an appropriate mitigation budget be provided for by the Applicant. At this stage it is not possible to determine what mitigation may be appropriate, and in the time between writing this report and the mitigation need arising (likely several years) new mitigation methods may be developed. However if such a need arises and suitable mitigation is identified it cannot be argued by the wind farm operator that mitigation was not budgeted for. Mitigation could cost the operator either in the form of additional costs or lost productivity as a result of changes to turbine operations. We have suggested a budget for this aspect in this report. It is also important that the developer be aware that mitigation measures may require the installation of equipment on turbines, or possibly the painting of blades. Potential technical and warrantee challenges should be noted where possible throughout the planning process so that they do not prevent the implementation of reasonable mitigation if required. » Internal power line must be placed underground except where absolutely necessary such as to cross drainage lines or get up steep/ extremely rocky slopes. Internal overheads power lines may not exceed a total of 7km in length. This excludes overhead lines that run next to other 22 kV or higher lines. An exception of up to 500m of internal overhead powerlines can go through identified no-go areas if approved by the specialist to, for example, allow a line to get up a steep slope.
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