Draft Scoping Report
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PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT OF THE IBHUBESI GAS PROJECT DRAFT SCOPING REPORT Prepared for: Department of Environmental Affairs On behalf of: Sunbird Energy (Ibhubesi) Pty Ltd Prepared by: CCA Environmental (Pty) Ltd SE01IPP/DSR/Rev.0 APRIL 2014 PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT OF THE IBHUBESI GAS PROJECT DRAFT SCOPING REPORT Prepared for: Department of Environmental Affairs Fedsure Forum Building, 2nd Floor North Tower 315 Pretorius Street PRETORIA, 0002 On behalf of: Sunbird Energy (Ibhubesi) Pty Ltd 201 Two Oceans House, Surrey Place Surrey Road, Mouille Point Cape Town, 8005 Prepared by: CCA Environmental (Pty) Ltd Contact person: Jonathan Crowther Unit 35 Roeland Square, Drury Lane CAPE TOWN, 8001 Tel: (021) 461 1118 / 9 Fax (021) 461 1120 E-mail: [email protected] SE01IPP/DSR/Rev.0 APRIL 2014 Sunbird Energy: Proposed development of the Ibhubesi Gas Project PROJECT INFORMATION TITLE Draft Scoping Report for proposed development of the Ibhubesi Gas Project APPLICANT Sunbird Energy (Ibhubesi) Pty Ltd ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANT CCA Environmental (Pty) Ltd REPORT REFERENCE SE01IPP/DSR/Rev.0 DEA REFERENCE 14/12/16/3/3/2/587 REPORT DATE 25 April 2014 REPORT COMPILED BY: Jeremy Blood ......................................... Jeremy Blood (Pr.Sci.Nat.; CEAPSA) Associate REPORT REVIEWED BY: Jonathan Crowther .......................................... Jonathan Crowther (Pr.Sci.Nat.; CEAPSA) Managing Director CCA Environmental (Pty) Ltd i Draft Scoping Report Sunbird Energy: Proposed development of the Ibhubesi Gas Project EXPERTISE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT PRACTITIONER NAME Jonathan Crowther RESPONSIBILITY ON PROJECT Project leader and quality control DEGREE B.Sc. Hons (Geol.), M.Sc. (Env. Sci.) PROFESSIONAL REGISTRATION Pr.Sci.Nat., CEAPSA EXPERIENCE IN YEARS 26 Jonathan Crowther has been an in environmental consultant since 1988 and is currently the Managing Director of CCA Environmental (Pty) Ltd. He has expertise in a wide range of environmental disciplines, including Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), Environmental Management Plans/Programmes, Environmental Planning & Review, Environmental EXPERIENCE Control Officer services, and Public Consultation & Facilitation. He has project managed a number of offshore oil and gas EIAs for various exploration and production activities in South Africa and Namibia. He also has extensive experience in projects related to roads, property developments and landfill sites. NAME Jeremy Blood RESPONSIBILITY ON PROJECT Project management, report writing and specialist study review DEGREE B.Sc. Hons (Bot.), M.Sc. (Cons. Ecol.) PROFESSIONAL REGISTRATION Pr.Sci.Nat., CEAPSA EXPERIENCE IN YEARS 15 Jeremy Blood has been working as an environmental assessment practitioner since 1999 and has project managed a number of large-scale projects covering a range of environmental disciplines, including Environmental Impact Assessments, Environmental Management Plans/Programmes, Environmental Auditing & Monitoring and EXPERIENCE Environmental Control Officer related work in South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique and Kenya. He has expertise in a wide range of projects relating to mining (oil/gas, heavy mineral mining and borrowpits), housing/industrial developments and infrastructure projects (e.g. roads, railway line, power lines and pipelines). CCA Environmental (Pty) Ltd ii Draft Scoping Report Sunbird Energy: Proposed development of the Ibhubesi Gas Project EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 OPPORTUNITY TO COMMENT This Executive Summary summarises the main findings of the Draft Scoping Report (DSR) prepared as part of the Scoping and Environmental Impact Assessment (S&EIA) process being undertaken for the proposed development of the Ibhubesi Gas Project. The DSR has been distributed for a 40-day comment period from 2 May 2014 to 11 June 2014 (which makes provision for election day on 7 May 2014) in order to provide Interested and Affected Parties (I&APs) with an opportunity to comment on any aspect of the proposed project and the findings of the Scoping Study Phase. Copies of the full report have been made available on the website (www.ccaenvironmental.co.za) and at the following locations: Name of Facility Physical Address Cape Town Central Library Old Drill Hall, Cnr Parade & Darling Streets, Cape Town Vredenburg Library 2 Akademie Street, Louwville, Vredenburg Saldanha Library Berg Street, Saldanha Langebaan Library Cnr Oostewal & Bree Street, Langebaan Cape West Coast Biosphere Reserve offices Cnr R27 & R315, West Coast Farmstall, Yzerfontein Koeberg Library Merchant Walk, Duynefontein, Melkbosstrand Wesfleur Library Wesfleur Circle, Atlantis Avondale Library Grosvenor Avenue, Avondale, Atlantis For comments to be included in the Final Scoping Report (FSR) they should reach the offices of CCA Environmental (Pty) Ltd (CCA) no later than 11 June 2014. Contact details are as follows CCA Environmental (Pty) Ltd Contact person: Mandy Kula Unit 35 Roeland Square, 30 Drury Lane, Cape Town, 8001 PO Box 10145, Caledon Square, 7905 Tel: (021) 461 1118/9; Fax: (021) 461 1120 E-mail: [email protected] 1.2 PROJECT BACKGROUND Sunbird Energy (Ibhubesi) Pty Ltd (Sunbird) and its partner, the Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa (Pty) Ltd (PetroSA), currently have in place an Environmental Authorisation and hold a Production Right to develop the Ibhubesi Gas Field. The Ibhubesi Gas Field is located in Licence Block 2A off the West Coast of the South Africa. The Production Right area is approximately 5 000 km2 in extent and is located, at its closest point, approximately 60 km off the Northern Cape coast in water depths of between 200 m and 250 m (see Figure 1). It was initially envisaged that the gas field would be linked via two subsea production pipelines to an onshore gas processing facility on the Northern Cape coast, where the gas would be processed before being compressed for distribution into an onshore export pipeline. The onshore export pipeline did not form part of the original project description, as this was considered to be a South African government initiative. As the onshore export pipeline did materialised, Sunbird has re-evaluated the original development proposal in order to establish a market for the gas resources. CCA Environmental (Pty) Ltd iii Draft Scoping Report Sunbird Energy: Proposed development of the Ibhubesi Gas Project Eskom has issued a request for information (RFI) for the supply and delivery of gas to its 1 350 MW Ankerlig Open Cycle Gas Turbine (OCGT) Peaking Power Station near Atlantis (ongoing referred to as Ankerlig), which currently operates using diesel as a fuel source. Based on this RFI, Sunbird is considering various additional and alternative project components, from what was originally approved, in order to supply indigenous gas feedstock to Ankerlig and potential end users on the Saldanha Peninsula. This revised project is now referred to as the Ibhubesi Gas Project. The key additions / alternatives include the following: The installation of either a floating production, storage and offloading unit (FPSO) or a semi- submersible production platform in the licence area; An approximately 400 km offshore pipeline (14- to 18-inch) from the production facility to a shore- crossing site located between Grotto Bay and Duynefontein and one on the Saldanha Peninsula, in the Western Cape (see Figure 1); An onshore pipeline between the shore-crossing site and Ankerlig and potential end users on the Saldanha Peninsula; and An onshore gas receiving facility, most likely located near Ankerlig. Figure 1: Locality of the Ibhubesi Gas Field in Licence Block 2A off the West Coast of South Africa. The proposed production pipelines to the Western Cape are also shown. CCA Environmental (Pty) Ltd iv Draft Scoping Report Sunbird Energy: Proposed development of the Ibhubesi Gas Project 1.3 AUTHORISATION REQUIREMENTS The proposed Ibhubesi Gas Project requires authorisation in terms of both the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (No. 107 of 1998) (NEMA), as amended, and the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (No. 28 of 2002) (MPRDA), as amended. These two regulatory processes are summarised briefly below. The EIA Regulations 2010, promulgated in terms of Chapter 5 of NEMA, require that Environmental Authorisation is obtained from the competent authority, the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), to carry out the proposed development of the Ibhubesi Gas Project. In order for DEA to consider the application for authorisation a S&EIA process must be undertaken as the project triggers the following listed activities: GN No. R544: 9, 11, 14, 16, 18, 22, 23, 24, 40 & 47; GN No. R545: 3, 4, 5, 6, 14, 15 & 26; and GN No. R546: 4, 12, 13, 14, 16, 19 & 24. In terms of Section 102 of the MPRDA, Sunbird is required to amend its approved Environmental Management Programme (EMPr) to which their Production Right relates, and submit it to the Petroleum Agency SA (PASA) for consideration and subsequent approval by the Minister of Mineral Resources (or the delegated authority). CCA has been appointed by Sunbird to undertake the S&EIA process and compile the EMPr Addendum. In order to avoid duplication, where possible, the NEMA and MPRDA processes have been combined and undertaken in parallel. 2. SCOPING STUDY PROCESS 2.1 PROJECT REGISTRATION An “Application Form for Environmental Authorisation” and “Details of Environmental Assessment Practitioner (EAP) and Declaration of Interest” form were submitted to DEA on 5 September 2013 to register the proposed