Traffic Impact Assessment Report

DOCUMENT CONTROL SHEET

Traffic Impact Assessment for Proposed Construction of the Orkney Document Solar Farm and associated infrastructure on the Remaining Extent of Title Portion 7 and Portion 21 of the farm Wolvehuis 114, North West Province

Electronic TJ1701WC Reference Date 24 January 2017

This report documents a traffic impact assessment with the specific purpose of Short assessing the impact of the construction of the Orkney Solar Farm and associated Description infrastructure.

Contact Stephen Fautley Person [email protected]

Prepared for: Savannah Environmental (Pty) Ltd

Prepared by

Techso

Techso (Pty) Ltd PO Box 35 The Innovation Hub 0087

Tel: 021 557 7730 E-mail: [email protected]

Name Signature Date

Compiled by: Stephen Fautley 24 January 2016 ( Pr. Tech Eng. - ECSA Reg # 200270171 )

Reviewed by

1 CONTENTS

1 PROJECT DESCRIPTION...... 3 2 PURPOSE OF REPORT...... 3 3 TRAFFIC SPECIALIST CREDENTIALS ...... 3 4 IMPACT ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY ...... 4

4.1 DETERMINATION OF SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACTS...... 4 4.2 IMPACT RATING SYSTEM ...... 4 4.3 ASSESSMENT OF IMPACTS ...... 5 5 TRAFFIC ASSESSMENT ...... 6

5.1 VISUAL ASSESSMENT OF R502 AT PROPOSED ACCESS...... 6 5.2 R502 CHARACTERISTICS ...... 6 5.3 TRANSPORT ROUTES TO SITE: ...... 7 5.4 TRAFFIC COUNTS...... 8 5.5 TRAFFIC ISSUES CONSIDERED ...... 8 5.5.1 STATUTORY BUILDING LINES:...... 9 5.5.2 TRIP GENERATION: ...... 9 5.5.3 DEVELOPMENT ACCESS:...... 17 5.5.4 HAZARDOUS SOLAR GLARE:...... 17 5.6 IMPACT ASSESSMENT ...... 17 5.7 CUMULATIVE TRAFFIC IMPACT ASSESSMENT...... 20 6 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 23 7 REFERENCES...... 24 ANNEXURE A – SITE LOCALITY PLAN ...... 25 ANNEXURE B – DEVELOPMENT LAYOUT...... 26 ANNEXURE C – VEHICLE TRIPS TO SITE...... 27

2 1 PROJECT DESCRIPTION Genesis Orkney Solar (Pty) Ltd propose the construction of a commercial photovoltaic (PV) solar energy facility (known as the Orkney Solar Farm) on a site approximately 11.8km south west from the town of Orkney and north west of the Vaal River (see Locality Plan in Annexure A). The solar farm will be located within the Farm Wolvehuis 114 on the Remaining Extent of Portion 7 and the Remaining Extent of Portion 21. The proposed project site falls under the jurisdiction of the City of Matlosana Local Municipality and within the greater Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality in the North West Province.

The contracted capacity of the solar farm will be up to 100MW and is proposed to accommodate several arrays of tracking or static PV panels and associated infrastructure on the proposed project site.

The proposed solar farm is planned to be bid into the Department of Energy’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement (REIPPP) Programme with the aim of evacuating the generated power into the Eskom national electricity grid and aiding in the diversification and stabilisation of the country’s electricity supply. Photovoltaic (PV) technology is proposed to be utilised for the generation of solar electricity.

The solar farm will include the following infrastructure:

 Arrays of PV panels (either a static or tracking PV system) with a capacity of up to 100MW;  Mounting structures to support the PV panels;  On-site inverters to convert the power from a direct current to an alternating current and a substation to facilitate the connection between the solar farm and the Eskom electricity grid;  A new 132kV power line between the on-site substation and the Eskom grid connection point;  Cabling between the project components, to be laid underground where practical;  Offices and workshop areas for maintenance and storage;  Temporary laydown areas; and  Internal access roads and fencing around the development area.

2 PURPOSE OF REPORT This report assesses the expected traffic and transport impact during the Construction Phase, Operation Phase and Decommissioning Phase.

3 TRAFFIC SPECIALIST CREDENTIALS This Site Assessment is undertaken by Mr. S Fautley, who is a Professional Engineering Technologist registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA).

3 TJ1636WC His career encompasses the civil, traffic and transportation engineering discipline for ten (10) years at the Western Cape Government, 1,5 years with Kantey and Templer Consulting Engineers and 10 years at local authority (City of Cape Town) before joining Techso in 2008, as a Senior Transport Engineer.

He has extensive experience in Traffic Impact Assessments, and Site Assessments, including various renewable energy plants in South Africa and is a registered Road Safety Auditor.

4 IMPACT ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY This report assesses the expected traffic and transport impact during the Construction Phase, Operation Phase and Decommissioning Phase of the proposed 100MW Orkney Solar Farm.

The requirements in the TMH 16 Vol 1 & 2 South African Traffic Impact and Site Traffic Assessment Manual, August 2012, compiled by the Committee of Transport Officials (COTO) were used for this study.

The Impact Assessment Methodology assists in evaluating the overall effect of a proposed activity on the environment. The environmental impact is determined through a systematic analysis of the various components of the impact. This is undertaken using information that is available to the environmental practitioner through the process of the environmental impact assessment. The impact evaluation of predicted impacts is undertaken through an assessment of the significance of the impacts.

4.1 Determination of Significance of Impacts Significance is determined through a synthesis of impact characteristics which include context and intensity of an impact. Context refers to the geographical scale i.e. site, local, national or global whereas Intensity is defined by the severity of the impact e.g. the magnitude of deviation from background conditions, the size of the area affected, the duration of the impact and the overall probability of occurrence. Significance is calculated as shown in Section 2.3.

Significance is an indication of the importance of the impact in terms of both physical extent and time scale, and therefore indicates the level of mitigation required. The total number of points scored for each impact indicates the level of significance of the impact.

4.2 Impact Rating System Impact assessment must take account of the nature, scale and duration of effects on the environment whether such effects are positive (beneficial) or negative (detrimental). Each issue / impact is also assessed according to the project stages:

» Planning (Not applicable in this instance – no traffic impact) » Construction

4 TJ1636WC » Operation » Decommissioning

Where necessary, the proposal for mitigation or optimisation of an impact should be detailed. A brief discussion of the impact and the rationale behind the assessment of its significance has also been included.

A rating system is used to classify impacts. The rating system is applied to the potential impact on the receiving environment and includes an objective evaluation of the mitigation of the impact. Impacts have been consolidated into one rating. In assessing the significance of each issue the following criteria (including an allocated point system) as shown in section 2.3 is used:

4.3 Assessment of Impacts Impacts were assessed in terms of the following criteria:

» The nature, a description of what causes the effect, what will be affected, and how it will be affected » The extent, wherein it is indicated whether the impact will be local (limited to the immediate area or site of development), regional, national or international. A score of between 1 and 5 is assigned as appropriate (with a score of 1 being low and a score of 5 being high) » The duration, wherein it is indicated whether: ∗ The lifetime of the impact will be of a very short duration (0–1 years) – assigned a score of 1 ∗ The lifetime of the impact will be of a short duration (2-5 years) - assigned a score of 2 ∗ Medium-term (5–15 years) – assigned a score of 3 ∗ Long term (> 15 years) - assigned a score of 4 ∗ Permanent - assigned a score of 5 » The magnitude, quantified on a scale from 0-10, where a score is assigned: ∗ 0 is small and will have no effect on the environment ∗ 2 is minor and will not result in an impact on processes ∗ 4 is low and will cause a slight impact on processes ∗ 6 is moderate and will result in processes continuing but in a modified way ∗ 8 is high (processes are altered to the extent that they temporarily cease) ∗ 10 is very high and results in complete destruction of patterns and permanent cessation of processes » The probability of occurrence, which describes the likelihood of the impact actually occurring. Probability is estimated on a scale, and a score assigned: ∗ Assigned a score of 1–5, where 1 is very improbable (probably will not happen) ∗ Assigned a score of 2 is improbable (some possibility, but low likelihood) ∗ Assigned a score of 3 is probable (distinct possibility) ∗ Assigned a score of 4 is highly probable (most likely)

5 TJ1636WC ∗ Assigned a score of 5 is definite (impact will occur regardless of any prevention measures) » The significance, which is determined through a synthesis of the characteristics described above (refer formula below) and can be assessed as low, medium or high » The status, which is described as either positive, negative or neutral » The degree to which the impact can be reversed » The degree to which the impact may cause irreplaceable loss of resources » The degree to which the impact can be mitigated

The significance is determined by combining the criteria in the following formula:

S = (E+D+M) P; where

S = Significance weighting E = Extent D = Duration M = Magnitude P = Probability

The significance weightings for each potential impact are as follows:

» < 30 points: Low (i.e. where this impact would not have a direct influence on the decision to develop in the area) » 30-60 points: Medium (i.e. where the impact could influence the decision to develop in the area unless it is effectively mitigated) » > 60 points: High (i.e. where the impact must have an influence on the decision process to develop in the area)

5 TRAFFIC ASSESSMENT

5.1 Visual Assessment of R502 at proposed access A site assessment was undertaken in December 2016 and January 2017. A few observations were made on the R502 at the proposed access to the facility, which are categorised in the following aspects:

» Road surface » Line Markings » Sight distance at the proposed access location

5.2 R502 Characteristics The R502 is a two-lane regional route paved with very narrow shoulders. It originates from the N12 between Potchefstroom and Stilfontein in the North West Province and runs in a south-easterly direction, north of the Vaal River and roughly paralleling the N12. The first town it passes through is Orkney where it intersects with the R30.

6 TJ1636WC The R502 continues through Leeudoringstad where it is briefly co-signed with the crossing R504. The last town it passes through is Makwassie where again it is briefly co-signed with the crossing R505. A few kilometres later the road rejoins the N12. The road surface is still in a good condition with clear line markings. The proposed access location has good sight distance in both directions (see Figure 1 below).

Figure 1: Visual assessment during site visit

5.3 Transport Routes to Site: The primary long distance routing to the site will be from Cape Town Harbour (along the N1, the N12) joining the R502) and from Johannesburg (along the N12) joining the R502).

The National Roads are high capacity routes carrying mixed traffic and can readily accommodate the development traffic.

7 TJ1636WC 5.4 Traffic counts Traffic counts were performed during the weekday AM peak period on (2017/01/24) and indicated that very low vehicle volumes travel on the R502 (see Figure 2 below).

Figure 2: Observed Traffic counts during the AM peak hour

5.5 Traffic Issues Considered The following traffic related aspects are relevant to the proposed Orkney Solar Farm;

» Statutory Building Lines: * Lateral displacement from road / encroachment on the 95m building line on the R502 (relates to traffic safety – driver distraction and vehicle impact).

» Trip Generation: * Construction, delivery, operations (staff and maintenance) vehicles and decommissioning vehicle trips to the proposed Orkney Solar Farm (relates to increased traffic volumes and traffic safety).

» Development Access: * The development access needs to suitably accommodate the development traffic.

» Hazardous Glare: * Glint and Glare from Solar PV Panels (relates to hazardous glare causing distraction and possible negative impact on traffic safety).

8 TJ1636WC 5.5.1 Statutory Building Lines1: The section of the R502 past the proposed Orkney Solar Farm is a Proclaimed Road, and is accordingly a Building Restriction Road. As such it is subject to a 95m building line (measured from the centre of the statutory road reserve) in terms of the Advertising on Roads and Ribbon Development Act 21 of 1940 and is also subject to a 5m building line (measured from the statutory road reserve boundary) in terms of Road Ordinance 19 of 1976. The Provincial Roads Authority would therefore need to grant permission for encroachment on said building lines. Detail building plans were not available at the time of this report and the matter of encroachment on building lines should be addressed outside of this report, during the building plan submission.

5.5.2 Trip Generation: This section covers the various vehicle types and associated trips to and from the site, as listed below: a) General b) Trip Generation aligned with Project Programme c) Staff Transport Vehicles d) Construction Vehicles e) Delivery Vehicles » Standard Load Vehicles » Abnormal Load Vehicles f) Operation Period Vehicles g) Decommissioning h) Total Development Traffic

a) General: » Construction of the proposed Orkney Solar Farm will take maximum 18 months to complete; » The majority of traffic generated by the proposed development will occur during the construction period and will comprise both light and heavy vehicles; » Construction work is in one shift, during daylight hours; » Vehicle and equipment delivery to and from the site would generally, but not necessarily, be outside the commuter peak periods; » The delivery of materials and equipment required for the project is shown in Table 5 and is described thereunder; » Interlink deliveries will be from Johannesburg (transporting structural steel elements); » Super-links will travel from Cape Town harbour (transporting PV Solar Panels); and » Abnormal Load deliveries will be from Cape Town harbour (transporting transformers and inverters).

1 Statutory Building Lines are building lines imposed in terms of legislation, i.e. as per the Roads Ordinance 19 of 1976 and as per the Roads and Ribbon Development Act 21 of 1940.

9 TJ1636WC b) Trip Generation aligned with Project Programme: The South African Trip Generation Rates and the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Manual do not provide data on construction traffic generation for developments such as the Orkney Solar Farm. Consequently, trip generation estimates are based on principles related to the anticipated build requirements and anticipated project programme, as shown in Table 3, Table 4 and Table 5 below (see Annexure C for larger scale Table 5).

Table 1: Typical Staff and Transport Components

Per shift

Staff Category Staff per Vehicle Staff Vehicle # Vehicles veh type Occupancy

Construction Labourers 290 Bus 310 60 5 Foremen 20 Specialists 20 Engineers 10 Private 40 1,2 33 Project Managers 10 TOTAL 350

Table 2: Anticipated Project Programme

ORKNEY SOLAR PV PLANT - ANTICIPATED CONSTRUCTION, OPERATIONS AND DECOMISSIONING PROGRAMME Stages 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 # Key Work Items Months 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 - 318 319 - 320 1 Site Establishment and Civils 3 2 Delivery of PV Modules and Structures 6 3 Construction of Trackers and Mounting Modules 10 4 Electrical Works 10 5 Sign-off and Commissioning 4 6 Operations 300 7 Decommissioning 2

The following assumptions are made in Table 5 below:

» 15% of staff/workers travel by private/light vehicle; » Private vehicles have a vehicle occupancy of 1.2 person’s; » 85% of staff and workers travel by 60 seater buses; » There are 26 working days in a month; and » There is only one work shift

Description of the peak traffic volumes follow Table 5 below (see Annexure B for larger scale Table 5).

10 TJ1636WC Table 3: Vehicle Trips to Site ORKNEY SOLAR PV PLANT Anticipated Project Execution Plan (Construction, Operations and Decommissioning Stages) 1 Site Establishment and Civils x 2 Delivery of PV Modules and Structures x 3 Construction of Trackers and Mounting Modules x x 4 Electrical Works x x x 5 Commissioning x 6 Operations x 7 De-commissioning x

ITEM DESCRIPTION Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 Stage 6 Stage 7 # Months 2 6 4 3 3 300 2 From 1 3 9 13 16 19 319 To 2 8 12 15 18 318 320 1 Employees on site (Day shift only) 150 200 350 250 250 15 75 2a Light Vehicles to site (Daily) 19 25 44 31 31 2 15 2b Light Vehicles to site (Monthly) 488 650 1138 813 813 0 1 3a Busses to site (Daily) 2 3 5 4 4 0 1 3b Busses to site (Monthly) 55 74 129 92 92 0 28 4 Machinery & Equipment to site: (Monthly) 4a Tipper Truck (10m3) 30 6 6 0 0 0 500 4b Front Wheel Loader 6 5 3 2 0 0 2 4c Excavator 6 5 0 0 0 2 4d Concrete to site Limited to foundations only ( Local ready mix truck) 0 5 5 0 0 0 0 4e Drill Rig 0 4 4 2 0 0 0 4f Grader 6 5 3 2 0 0 1 4g TLB 6 5 3 2 0 0 2 4h Water car 6 5 3 2 0 0 1 4i Small equipment / vehicles 12 3 6 6 0 0 2 5 Steel Structure to site (Interlinks from Johannesburg) 0 6 6 3 0 0 6 PV Panels to site (Super links from CT harbour) 0 17 17 6 0 0 7 Abnormal Load Vehicles - Inverter/Transformers to site from Cape Town harbour) 0 0 2 0 0

Summation of Vehicle Trips 1 Heavy Vehicles to site Monthly (Incl buses) 127 140 185 119 92 0 533 2 Heavy Vehicles to site Daily (Incl buses) 5 5 7 5 4 0 21 3 Assume 30% bunching for heavy vehicle deliveries to site (Daily - Outside peak hr) 4 3 3 1 0 0 26 4 Light Vehicles to site daily in Peak Hour 19 25 44 31 31 2 15 5 EVU to site daily (EVU factor 3) 36 43 67 46 42 2 95 6 Peak Hour Trips (Light vehicles to site and buses to & from site in AM) 23 31 54 38 38 2 17

NOTE: 1) No staff will be housed on site, we will use local employees and management/permanent staff will be housed close by. 2) No shifts hours only normal working hours. 3) "to site" means a single vehicle direction trip. The trip from the site may be at a different time during the day or month. 4) Numbers are rounded off

c) Staff Transport Vehicles: At its peak, approximately 350 construction staff and construction workers work on site and are accommodated off-site (months 9 to 12). Approximately 44 light vehicles and 5 buses will provide transport to and from the site during the commuter peak periods.

d) Construction Vehicles: These vehicles are classified as heavy vehicles and the maximum visits to site in a month are show below: » 30 Dump truck deliveries per month to and from the site are required in months 1 and 2 (see Picture 1 below); » A front wheel loader is expected at site on 6 occasions per month (see Picture 2 below); » An excavator is expected at site on 6 occasions per month (see Picture 3 below); » Approximately 5 concrete mixer truck deliveries are required on site in months 3 to 12 (see Picture 4 below); » A drill rig is expected on site 4 times in a month from months 4 to 12 (see Picture 5 below); » A grader is expected at site on 6 occasions per month. These vehicles will be transported to and from the site on small low-bed trucks (see Picture 6 below). The grader may remain at the site for extended periods of time;

11 TJ1636WC » A Tractor-Loader-Backhoe (TLB) type excavator is expected at site on 6 occasions per month. These vehicles will be transported to and from the site on small low- bed trucks (see Picture 7 below). The excavator will remain at the site for extended periods of time; » A water car is expected at site on 6 occasions per month (see Picture 8 below); and » Small equipment vehicles are also required on site some 12 occasions per month, i.e. tippers, fork lifts, etc. (see Picture 9 below).

Picture 1 - 10 Ton Truck Picture 2 – Front Wheel Loader

Picture 3 – Excavator Picture 4 – Ready-mix truck

Picture 5 – Drill Rig Picture 6 – Grader

12 TJ1636WC Picture 7 – Tractor-Loading- Picture 8 – Water Car Backhoe (TLB)

Dumper truck Pile Driving (Ram) Machine

Fork Lift

Roller Compactor Picture 9 – Other/typical small equipment vehicles

e) Heavy Delivery Vehicles: » Standard Load Vehicles: * Definitions of delivery vehicles as referred to in this report are below (refer to Figure 3 below): o Interlink Combination consists of a Truck-Tractor and two semi-trailers, each with a deck length of ± 9 m, to make a total deck length of 18 m. o Super-link Combination is a Truck-Tractor with a semi-trailer having a deck length of just over 6m and a second semi-trailer having a deck length of just over 12m. Basically, a Super-link Combination is usually used to transport one 6m (International Organization for Standardization) ISO container on the front semi-trailer and two 6m ISO containers, or

13 TJ1636WC alternatively one 12m ISO container on the rear semi-trailer. Super-links are accepted on South African roads provided that they are not carrying dangerous loads.

Interlink Combination (2 x 9 m trailers) Super-link Combination(6 m trailer and 12 m trailer)

Figure 3 – Typical Heavy Delivery/Freight Vehicles for carrying ISO Containers

* Approximately 6 interlink truck loads (see Figure 3 above) are required per month in months 3 to 12, transporting structural steel elements from Johannesburg; * Approximately 17 super-link truck loads (see Figure 3 above) are expected per month in months 3 to 12, transporting PV panels from Cape Town Harbour. * Heavy vehicle deliveries are generally anticipated to arrive at site outside the commuter peak period, and * The expected numbers of heavy vehicle deliveries to the site during the construction of the anticipated Orkney Solar Farm, estimated at 7 per day (from months 9 to 12) is not significant and should be accommodated on the National and Provincial road network with relative ease.

» Abnormal Load Vehicles: * Two (2) abnormal load vehicles (see Figure 4 below) are expected per month (from months 13 to 15) transporting inverters and transformers from Cape Town Harbour.

Figure 4 – Typical Low-bed Transport Vehicle (for carrying abnormal loads)

14 TJ1636WC * An Abnormal Load Permit, must be obtained by the transport carrier, in accordance with Committee of Transport Officials (COTO) TRH 11 - Dimensional and Mass Limitations and Other Requirements for Abnormal Load Vehicles (8th Edition 2010) as published by South African Department of Transport; * Transporting abnormal loads (i.e. large or heavy objects with weight exceeding 40 Tonnes) would require an abnormal load permit; * Vehicle length exceeding 18.5 m are abnormal vehicles and where the maximum permissible length under permit is 26 m; * Steerable rear axles or dollies are required for vehicle length of 20 m to 25 m or where the wheelbase exceeds 14.5 m; * The substation transformers are less than 3.5 m wide but exceed 2.6 m width, and accordingly an abnormal load permit is required; * The load and vehicle height shall not exceed 4.3 m, except by permit; * Axle groups may not exceed the values given in Table 3.1 of TRH 11; * The vehicle manufacturer axle-mass load limits and other vehicle specifications must be satisfied; * The selected route must be indicated for the permit; * Transport of the abnormal load will require clearance of bridge posted maximum total and maximum axle mass along selected travel routes; * Abnormal load vehicles must be suitably marked as per Figure 4.4 of TRH 11; * Vehicle escort requirements are set out in Figure 4.4 of TRH 11; and * Tracking across bridges under escort may be required as per Figure 4.4 of TRH 11.

f) Operational Period Vehicles: » Operation Staff Requirements: * The Orkney Solar Farm will be operational during daylight hours, except during maintenance, poor weather conditions, breakdowns or interruption of the connection to the Eskom grid. * Regular maintenance will typically include periodic cleaning and inspection. The solar panels will be cleaned with water. * A small staff component will typically be required during the operation phase of the project, and includes technicians, maintenance and security personnel. * From time to time additional contract staff may be required for ad-hoc ground cleaning or special panel cleaning. * A total of between 15-50 people will be employed during the solar farm operation phase, depending on the requirements.

15 TJ1636WC » Operation and Maintenance Vehicles: * Operation and maintenance related trips will be minimal; * Staff can be transported around the site using utility vehicles and a typical mini-bus. These vehicles will additionally be used to transport staff from the nearby towns; * Cleaning of PV panels would be done occasionally and security personnel would be present on a permanent basis; and * One or two light vehicles would visit the site daily for either cleaning or security purposes.

g) Plant Decommissioning Vehicles: » The Orkney Solar Farm is expected to be operational for 20 to 25 years. Trip generation at the decommissioning stage is likely to be outside commuter peak hours. It is possible that the PV Panels will be replaced with new Solar PV Panels of even replaced by newer technology, to extend the life of the Orkney Solar Farm beyond its normal life-span. Decommissioning will entail less traffic than the construction phase, and components would be transported to the local dump if not recyclable, or sold to local scrap merchants or other if items have salvage value. » Off-Peak daily trips: It is anticipated that the decommissioning may generate 20 heavy vehicles (dump truck) trips to the site per day over 2 months removing equipment and materials to the local dump. 15 light vehicles and 1 bus is anticipated to be required for transporting staff to site (during the commuter peak) for the decommissioning of the Orkney Solar Farm.

h) Total Development Traffic: » Maximum trip generation is considered for both the off-peak and the commuter peak hours, as shown below: * Off-Peak daily trips: It is anticipated that the development will generate some 21 heavy vehicle trips to the site per day each month during the decommissioning phase. It is anticipated that decommissioning the Orkney Solar farm will be outside of the commuter peak hours; * Peak Hour Trips: It is anticipated that the development will generate 54 peak hour trips (44 sedan vehicles arriving and 5 buses arriving and leaving site in the AM and visa-versa in the PM (construction period) during peak activity from months 9 to 12. » The expected average daily numbers of light and heavy vehicles to the site during the construction, operation and decommissioning phases of the proposed Orkney Solar Farm is not significant and should be accommodated on the main road network with ease.

Note, the information provided is an informed estimate. Construction related traffic may however vary and be different from the information provided above due to suppliers’ delivery schedule updates/changes, etc.

16 TJ1636WC 5.5.3 Development Access: The proposed access location has good sight distance in both directions. The temporary nature of the build, very low background traffic and low number of vehicles to the site, during and after construction, does not warrant turning lanes at the proposed access to the site. The development access should be appropriate to the vehicles anticipated at the site, and a typical site access is depicted in Figure 5 below. The access between the gate and the R502 travel way should be hard surfaced (premix) to reduce carry of site materials onto the R502. Road signage warning of possible construction vehicles at the site access should be erected during the construction phase.

Figure 5 – Typical Site Access

5.5.4 Hazardous Solar Glare: It is understood that this impact will be addressed in the Visual Environmental Impact Assessment Report. It is stressed that Hazardous Solar Glare and Glint is a potential road safety issue.

5.6 Impact Assessment The proposed Solar PV Power Plant development traffic impact assessment ratings, per development phase, are shown in Tables 6 to 8 below:

Table 4: Traffic impacts relating to the construction phase of the solar farm

Nature: During the construction phase (maximum 18 months) the road network leading to the site will include national roads from Johannesburg and Cape Town. There will be an increase in traffic volumes, for both light and heavy vehicles, impacting on traffic congestion and road safety.

Without mitigation With mitigation

Extent (E) National (5) N/A

17 TJ1636WC Duration (D) Short-term (1) N/A

Magnitude (M) Minor (2) N/A

Probability (P) Definite (5) N/A

Significance Medium (40) N/A (S = E+D+M)*P

Status (positive, neutral Negative or negative)

Reversibility Reversible

Irreplaceable loss of No, construction traffic will only occur during the construction resources? phase.

Can impacts be mitigated No, however certain aspects of road safety need to be considered

Mitigation » All construction vehicles must be road worthy. » All construction vehicle drivers must have the relevant licenses of the use of the vehicles and need to strictly adhere to the rules of the road

Cumulative impacts » The development will result in increased trips on national roads and the R502.

Residual impacts » Minor degradation of the national and regional road network of South Africa

Table 7: Traffic impacts relating to the operation phase of the solar farm

Nature: The road network surrounding the Orkney Solar Farm will be affected. There will be an increase in traffic impacting on traffic congestion and road safety, however the vehicles used for the operation phase will be of a light nature. The extent of the road network affected is small, with staff living in close proximity to the site. The operation phase traffic will temporarily add an insignificant traffic volume to the road network without any major traffic impact.

Without mitigation With mitigation

Extent (E) Local (1) N/A

Duration (D) Long-term (4) N/A

Magnitude (M) Small (0) N/A

Probability (P) Probable (3) N/A

Significance Low (15) N/A (S = E+D+M)*P

Status (positive, neutral Negative or negative)

Reversibility Reversible

Irreplaceable loss of No resources?

Can impacts be mitigated No

18 TJ1636WC Mitigation » All construction vehicles must be road worthy. » All construction vehicle drivers must have the relevant licenses of the use of the vehicles and need to strictly adhere to the rules of the road

Cumulative impacts » The development will result in increased vehicle trips

Residual impacts » Minor degradation of the regional and local road network of the surrounding area

Table 8: Traffic impacts relating to the decommissioning of the solar farm

Nature: The road network surrounding the Orkney Solar Farm will be affected. There will be an increase in traffic impacting on traffic congestion and road safety (light and heavy vehicles), however the extent of the impact will be very small and of a local nature. The traffic expected during the decommissioning phase will temporarily add an insignificant traffic volume to the road network.

Without mitigation With mitigation

Extent (E) Local (1) N/A

Duration (D) Short-term (1) N/A

Magnitude (M) Minor (2) N/A

Probability (P) Probable (3) N/A

Significance Low (12) N/A (S = E+D+M)*P

Status (positive, neutral Negative or negative)

Reversibility Reversible

Irreplaceable loss of No resources?

Can impacts be mitigated No

Cumulative impacts » The development will result in more intense vehicle trips

Residual impacts » Minor degradation of the regional and local road network of the surrounding area

19 TJ1636WC 5.7 Cumulative Traffic Impact Assessment This aspect is included in the above Impact Assessment and Impact Ratings and is described in more detail below. A number of similar type developments are proposed in the area within approximately 30km of the Orkney Solar PV site, as shown in Table 9 and corresponding Figure 6 below.

Table 5: Similar developments in close proximity to the Orkney Solar PV Site Approximate Generation distance from Capacity the Orkney Project Project Name Location Solar Farm site Status (measured from the centre) Solar Energy Facility Farm Omega 342 ~35km to the In process 50MW on Omega 342 west Vaal River Solar Portions 3 and 7 of ~19km to the Authorisation 75MW Energy Facility 1 Farm Vaalkop and north west granted portion 200 of Farm Nooitgedacht 434 Vaal River Solar Portions 3 and 7 of ~21km to the Authorisation 75MW Energy Facility 2 Farm Vaalkop and north west granted portion 200 of Farm Nooitgedacht 434 Vaal River Solar Portions 3 and 7 of ~20km to the Authorisation 75MW Energy Facility 3 Farm Vaalkop and north west granted portion 200 of Farm Nooitgedacht 434 Buffels Solar 1 Solar Portion 5 of the farm ~30km to the In process 100MW Energy Facility near Hartebeestfontein 422 north west Orkney IP Buffels Solar 2 Solar Portion 57 of the farm ~32km to the In process 100MW Energy Facility near Hartebeestfontein 422 north west Orkney IP Bokmoso PV Energy Farm Matjesspruit 145 ~22km to the Authorisation 68MW Facility near west granted Leeudoringstad (Preferred Bidder Round 4.5)

20 TJ1636WC Figure 6 – Map of similar solar energy developments in close proximity to the Orkney Solar Farm site

Depending on the timing of other nearby similar developments, where construction in particular could overlap, traffic impact will increase accordingly. The volume of traffic is related to the particular development stage, logistics planning and development size.

The Orkney development is relatively large and has an insignificant traffic impact, as shown above. Most of the other similar developments proposed nearby are smaller than the Orkney Solar PV Power Plant (see Table 9).

The construction period for similar solar plants is relatively short (12 to 18 months) with varying traffic flow during the construction period. Assuming that 50% of the other similar development construction activities coincide with the Orkney Solar Farm construction phase, the cumulative traffic volume would be treble the Orkney Solar Farm. This additional traffic would not access the proposed development but would be widely dispersed and should easily be accommodated on the surrounding road network.

The longer term operational traffic flow is low/negligible and it is unlikely that the decommissioning of these solar plants will coincide.

21 TJ1636WC Considering the above and low background traffic volumes it can be concluded that the cumulative impact of Orkney Solar Farm and the other proposed solar energy developments would have a negligible cumulative impact.

The cumulative traffic impact of the various nearby solar plants is considered to have a low impact and no remedial measures are required (refer to Table 10 below).

Table 10: Cumulative impacts associated with the development of the Orkney Solar Farm

Nature: Overall increase in traffic during the lifetime of different solar energy facilities located within 30km of the Orkney Solar Farm project site

Overall impact of the Cumulative impact of the proposed project considered project and other projects in in isolation the area

Extent Local (1) Regional (3)

Duration Long-term (4) Long-term (4)

Magnitude Minor (2) Minor (2)

Probability Probable (3) Probable (3)

Significance Low (21) Low (27)

Status Negative Negative

Reversibility Reversible Reversible

Irreplaceable loss of No No resources

Can impacts be mitigated Yes

Mitigation: » All vehicles must be road worthy. » All vehicle drivers must have the relevant licenses of the use of the vehicles and need to strictly adhere to the rules of the road. » All solar energy facilities need to adhere to the specific mitigation measures set out in term of road safety and traffic.

22 TJ1636WC 6 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS It is concluded that; 1. The proposed Orkney Solar Farm needs to take cognisance of the statutory building lines along the R502, in terms of Act 21 of 140 and Road Ordinance 19 of 1976; 2. Signage warning of construction vehicles at the farm access should be erected on the R502 for the construction period; 3. The development access should be hard surfaced (premix) to reduce carry of materials from the development site onto the R502; 4. The development gate should be set back at least 25 m from the travelled way to accommodate larger construction vehicles to and from the site; 5. Abnormal Load Vehicles require Abnormal Load Permits to be obtained by the transport carrier; 6. The construction phase has a medium impact. This is already mitigated by use of super-link and inter-link transport vehicles at a rate of less than one vehicle per day for a period of 12 months as opposed to using single unit horse and trailer combination that puts more vehicles on the road network; 7. The proposed development traffic, for operations and decommissioning development phases, has a low negative environmental impact and no mitigation measures are required; 8. Therefore, taking the above findings into consideration it can be concluded that the development of the Orkney solar Farm will not have a detrimental impact on traffic aspects and that it is appropriate and suitable from a traffic perspective. It is the reasoned opinion of the specialist that the development of the Orkney Solar Farm can be approved subject to the specific requirements included within this report.

23 TJ1636WC 7 REFERENCES 1. TMH 16 Vol 1 & 2 South African Traffic Impact and Site Traffic Assessment Manual, August 2012, compiled by the Committee of Transport Officials (COTO) 2. Advertising on Roads and Ribbon Development Act – Act 21 of 1940 3. Roads Ordinance 19 or 1976 4. South African Trip Generation Rates, Second Edition, Department of Transport – June 1995 5. Institute of Transport Engineers Trip Generation Manual 8th Edition 6. Committee of Transport Officials (COTO) TRH 11 - Dimensional and Mass Limitations and Other Requirements for Abnormal Load Vehicles (8th Edition 2010) as published by South African Department of Transport 7. Savannah Environmental (2016) Final Scoping Report: Proposed Orkney Solar Farm, North West Province. 8. Fleet Watch: 2007 9. Relieving a Glaring Problem, Posted on April 20, 2013 By SOLAR TODAY Research, Solar

24 TJ1636WC ANNEXURE A – SITE LOCALITY PLAN

25 TJ1636WC ANNEXURE B – DEVELOPMENT LAYOUT

26 TJ1636WC ANNEXURE C – VEHICLE TRIPS TO SITE

27 TJ1636WC