Leeudoringstad Solar Plant
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
LEEUDORINGSTAD SOLAR PLANT (PTY) LTD Basic Assessment (BA) for the Proposed Development of the 132/11kV Leeudoringstad Solar Plant Substation near Leeudoringstad in the North West Province, Maquassi Hills Local Municipality in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality Draft Basic Assessment Report (DBAR) Department Reference Number: To be Allocated Issue Date: 11 June 2021 Revision No.: 1.0 Project No.: 15962 Date: 11 June 2021 Basic Assessment (BA) for the Proposed Development of the 132/11kV Leeudoringstad Solar Plant Substation near Leeudoringstad in the North Document Title: West Province, Maquassi Hills Local Municipality in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality: Draft Basic Assessment Report (DBAR) Stephan Jacobs (EAP) Author: B.Sc. (Hons) Environmental Management & Analysis (UP) B.Sc. Environmental Sciences (UP) Revision Number: 1.0 Michelle Nevette – Divisional Manager Checked by: MEnvMgt. Environmental Management (UKZN) John Richardson – Divisional Manager Approved: B.Sc. (Hons) Environmental Science (UKZN) Signature: For: SiVEST Environmental Division Confidentiality Statement © SiVEST SA (Pty) Ltd All rights reserved Copyright is vested in SiVEST SA (Pty) Ltd in terms of the Copyright Act (Act 98 of 1978). This report is strictly confidential and is to be used exclusively by the recipient. Under no circumstances should this report or information contained therein be distributed, reprinted, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the written consent of SiVEST SA (Pty) Ltd. LEEUDORINGSTAD SOLAR PLANT (PTY) LTD SiVEST Environmental Division Proposed Development of the 132/11kV Leeudoringstad Solar Plant Substation near Leeudoringstad - Draft Basic Assessment Report (DBAR) Revision No: 1.0 11 June 2021 Page ii KEY PROJECT INFORMATION TECHNICAL DETAILS: Component Description / Dimensions Generation Capacity of Substation 132/11kV Affected Property Portion 37 of the Farm Leeuwbosch No. 44 Area of Application Site Approximately 124.691ha Area occupied by Substation Up to approximately 10 016m2 Height of Substation Height of substation will be confirmed during the final design stages of the substation, prior to construction commencing . Will be a shared substation which will contain transformers for voltage step-up from medium voltage to high voltage. Direct Current (DC) power from PV modules will be Transformer Information converted into Aternating Current (AC) power in inverters and voltage will be stepped up to medium voltage in inverter transformers Access to the proposed development (substation application Site Access site) will be via an existing gravel road which connects to the tarred R502 road. Proposed substation will connect Leeuwbosch 1 Solar PV Plant, Leeuwbosch 2 Solar PV Plant, Wildebeestkuil 1 Solar PV Plant & 132kV Power Line and Wildebeestkuil 2 Solar PV Plant & 132kV Power Line (part of a separate respective BA processes) to national electricity grid. Medium voltage cabling will link proposed Leeuwbosch 1 Solar PV Plant and Leeuwbosch 2 Solar PV Plant (part of separate respective BA processes) to Leeudoringstad Solar Plant Substation (part of this application). These cables will be laid underground, wherever technically feasible. Medium voltage cables will however form part of Grid Connection Information Leeuwbosch 1 Solar PV Plant and Leeuwbosch 2 Solar PV Plant, which form part of separate BA processes respectively. Proposed Wildebeestkuil 1 Solar PV Plant & 132kV Power Line and Wildebeestkuil 2 Solar PV Plant & 132kV Power Line will however connect to Leeudoringstad Solar Plant Substation (part of this application) via 132kV overhead power lines [one (1) power line per Wildebeestkuil project). Wildebeestkuil 1 Solar PV Plant & 132kV Power Line and Wildebeestkuil 2 Solar PV Plant & 132kV Power Line will form part of separate BA processes respectively. The final design details of the proposed substation will become available during the detailed design phase of the proposed development, before construction commences. All maps included in the report are included in Appendix 5. LEEUDORINGSTAD SOLAR PLANT (PTY) LTD SiVEST Environmental Division Proposed Development of the 132/11kV Leeudoringstad Solar Plant Substation near Leeudoringstad - Draft Basic Assessment Report (DBAR) Revision No: 1.0 11 June 2021 Page iii FARM DESCRIPTION 21 DIGIT SURVEYOR GENERAL (SG) CODE Portion 37 of the Farm Leeuwbosch No. 44 T0HP00000000004400037 LEEUDORINGSTAD SOLAR PLANT SUBSTATION: APPLICATION SITE CORNER POINT COORDINATES (DD MM SS.sss) POINT SOUTH EAST L_01 (NW) S27° 12' 5.494" E26° 17' 44.344" L_02 (NE) S27° 11' 44.632" E26° 19' 2.500" L_03 (S) S27° 12' 39.532" E26° 17' 58.463" CENTRE POINT COORDINATES (DD MM SS.sss) POINT SOUTH EAST CENTRE S27° 12' 6.154" E26° 18' 3.440" LEEUDORINGSTAD SOLAR PLANT SUBSTATION: PREFERRED SUBSTATION SITE ALTERNATIVE COORDINATES AREA CENTRE POINT COORDINATES ALTERNATIVE (HECTARES) SOUTH EAST Option 1 1.0 S27° 12' 14.146" E26° 18' 25.450" Refer to Appendix 9A for the full list of coordinates. LEEUDORINGSTAD SOLAR PLANT (PTY) LTD SiVEST Environmental Division Proposed Development of the 132/11kV Leeudoringstad Solar Plant Substation near Leeudoringstad - Draft Basic Assessment Report (DBAR) Revision No: 1.0 11 June 2021 Page iv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Introduction and Project Description Leeudoringstad Solar Plant (Pty) Ltd (hereafter referred to as ‘Leeudoringstad Solar Plant’) is proposing to construct one (1) on-site substation on Portion 37 of the Farm Leeuwbosch No. 44, approximately 7km north-east of the town of Leeudoringstad in the North West Province (hereafter referred to as the ‘proposed development’) (Department Ref No.: To be Allocated) (Figure i). The proposed substation development will have a capacity of 132/11 kilovolts (kV) and will be known as the Leeudoringstad Solar Plant Substation. The proposed development is located within the Maquassi Hills Local Municipality in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality. The overall objective of the proposed development is to feed the electricity generated by the proposed Leeuwbosch 1, Leeuwbosch 2, Wildebeestkuil 1 and Wildebeestkuil 2 Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Plants (part of separate respective on-going BA processes with Department reference numbers to be allocated still) into the national grid and ‘wheel’ the power to customers based on a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). At this stage, it is anticipated that the proposed development will include the following components: . One (1) new 132/11kV on-site substation (namely the Leeudoringstad Solar Plant Substation) to serve the Leeuwbosch 1 Solar PV Plant, Leeuwbosch 2 Solar PV Plant, Wildebeestkuil 1 Solar PV Plant & 132kV Power Line and Wildebeestkuil 2 Solar PV Plant & 132kV Power Line (part of separate respective BA process), occupying an area of up to approximately 10 016m2. The proposed substation will be a shared substation which will contain transformers for voltage step up from medium voltage to high voltage. Direct Current (DC) power from the PV modules will be converted into Alternating Current (AC) power in the inverters and the voltage will be stepped up to medium voltage in the inverter transformers. It should be noted that this proposed substation development (this application) forms part of a greater solar PV project proposed near the town of Leeudoringstad in the North West Province, namely the Leeudoringstad Solar PV Project. In total, four (4) solar PV plants and associated infrastructure (including switching substations and 132kV overhead power lines) are being proposed as part of the greater Leeudoringstad Solar PV Project (Figure i). The other proposed developments (solar PV and 132kV overhead power lines) which form part of the greater Leeudoringstad Solar PV Project include the following: ▪ 9.9MW Leeuwbosch 1 Solar PV Plant - Reference Number: To be Allocated (part of separate on-going BA process); ▪ 9.9MW Leeuwbosch 2 Solar PV Plant - Reference Number: To be Allocated (part of separate on-going BA process); ▪ 9.9MW Wildebeestkuil 1 Solar PV Plant and 132kV Power Line - Reference Number: To be Allocated (part of separate on-going BA process); and ▪ 9.9MW Wildebeestkuil 2 Solar PV Plant and 132kV Power Line - Reference Number: To be Allocated (part of separate on-going BA process). 132kV overhead power lines are being proposed to feed the electricity generated by the proposed Wildebeestkuil 1 and Wildebeestkuil 2 Solar PV Plants into the national electricity grid. The 132kV overhead power lines will form part of the respective Wildebeestkuil 1 and Wildebeestkuil 2 Solar PV Plant BA processes and will be authorised under the Wildebeestkuil 1 and Wildebeestkuil 2 Solar PV Plant EAs respectively. LEEUDORINGSTAD SOLAR PLANT (PTY) LTD SiVEST Environmental Division Proposed Development of the 132/11kV Leeudoringstad Solar Plant Substation near Leeudoringstad - Draft Basic Assessment Report (DBAR) Revision No: 1.0 11 June 2021 Page v Figure i: Regional context of greater Leeudoringstad Solar PV Project NEMA EIA Regulations In terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations, which were published on 04 December 2014 and amended on 07 April 2017 [promulgated in Government Gazette 40772 and Government Notice (GN) R326, R327, R325 and R324 on 7 April 2017], various aspects of the proposed development are considered listed activities which may have an impact on the environment and therefore require authorisation from the North West Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism