ESIA for GWG 20 MW Solar PV Project Liberia
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Environmental and Social Impact Assessment for the Gigawatt Global 20 MW Solar PV Plant, Liberia Prepared for: Gigawatt Global Project No.: 710.07072.00001 Report No.: 3 Revision No.: 002 October 2020 Gigawatt Global 20 MW Solar PV Plant, Liberia SLR Project No: 710.07072.00001 Environmental and Social Impact Assessment October 2020 DOCUMENT INFORMATION Title Environmental and Social Impact Assessment for the Gigawatt Global 20 MW Solar PV Plant, Liberia Project Manager Conroy van der Riet Project Manager Email [email protected] Author Conroy van der Riet Reviewer Stuart Heather-Clark Keywords Gigawatt Global, Solar, Power, Liberia Report No. 3 SLR Company SLR Consulting (Africa)(Pty) Ltd DOCUMENT REVISION RECORD Rev No. Issue Date Description Issued By 001 04 September 2020 Client Draft for Review CvdR 002 30 October 2020 Draft issued to the Liberia EPA for Review CvdR BASIS OF REPORT This document has been prepared by an SLR Group company with reasonable skill, care and diligence, and taking account of the manpower, timescales and resources devoted to it by agreement with Gigawatt Global Cooperatief U.A (the Client) as part or all of the services it has been appointed by the Client to carry out. It is subject to the terms and conditions of that appointment. SLR shall not be liable for the use of or reliance on any information, advice, recommendations and opinions in this document for any purpose by any person other than the Client. Reliance may be granted to a third party only in the event that SLR and the third party have executed a reliance agreement or collateral warranty. Information reported herein may be based on the interpretation of public domain data collected by SLR, and/or information supplied by the Client and/or its other advisors and associates. These data have been accepted in good faith as being accurate and valid. SLR disclaims any responsibility to the Client and others in respect of any matters outside the agreed scope of the work. The copyright and intellectual property in all drawings, reports, specifications, bills of quantities, calculations and other information set out in this report remain vested in SLR unless the terms of appointment state otherwise. This document may contain information of a specialised and/or highly technical nature and the Client is advised to seek clarification on any elements which may be unclear to it. Information, advice, recommendations and opinions in this document should only be relied upon in the context of the whole document and any documents referenced explicitly herein and should then only be used within the context of the appointment. GWG_20MW Solar PV_Liberia_ESIA_Draft for EPA_Oct 2020 NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT GIGAWATT GLOBAL 20 MW SOLAR PV PLANT, LIBERIA INTRODUCTION • the production and distribution of electricity; and • Solar (electricity generation). Gigawatt Global (GWG) is a multinational solar energy developer that builds, finances and operates utility-scale The EPML requires an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) photovoltaic solar projects in emerging markets. to be compiled, a stakeholder engagement process to be GWG are proposing to develop a 20 Megawatt (MW) Solar conducted and registration and authorisation by the Photovoltaic (PV) Plant approximately 4 km south of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This proposed Mount Coffee Hydropower Plant (MCHPP) in Liberia. The project has been registered with the EPA with the Reference project will also involve the construction of a power Number DED/EPA-02/00100/20/RL. transmission line from the solar PV plant to the Mount Coffee Substation. In addition, the project must also be designed and implemented in accordance with International Finance SLR Consulting (Africa) (Pty) Ltd (SLR), in collaboration with Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards on Environmental Green Consultancy Inc. (GreenCons), has been appointed as and Social Sustainability (2012), which includes IFC the independent Environmental Assessment Practitioner to Performance Standards 1 to 8 and relevant World Bank compile an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Environment Health and Safety (EHS) Guidelines. (ESIA) for this project. As a result of the dual compliance requirements an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) process PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THIS DOCUMENT has been undertaken. The ESIA process and compilation of This Non-Technical Summary has been compiled as a the Environmental Impact Statement has involved specialist summary of the Environmental and Social Impact Assess data gathering, site visits and consultation with affected (ESIA) Report. It summarises the following: stakeholders to identify issues of concern that need to be addressed as part of the ESIA. • The impact assessment process including the stakeholder engagement undertaken; PROJECT DESCRIPTION • The relevant environmental laws and regulations, including international requirements; Overview of the Project • The project site and associated environmental and Gigawatt Global (GWG) is proposing to develop a 20 social features; megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) plant, to be located • The proposed project components and activities; on the Crawford Farm in the Montserrado County of Liberia, • The predicted impacts and their significance ratings; approximately 4 km south east of the Mount Coffee and Hydropower Plant (MCHPP) and approximately 25 km north • The proposed mitigation and enhancement measures of Monrovia. The nearest established community is to mitigate and optimise the identified impacts. Crozierville, located 2 km south east of the project site (Figure 1). An example of a solar PV plant layout for a plant ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND developed by GWG in Rwanda is shown below: AUTHORISATION The Environmental Protection and Management Law, 2003 (EPML) provides the rules, regulations, and procedures for conducting EIAs and establishes regulations for environmental quality standards, pollution control and licensing. Section 6 of EPML requires an application for an environmental impact assessment license for the commencement of the projects and activities specified in Annexure I of the Act and sets out the process to be followed for Project Briefs, Scoping process and Environmental Impact Statements. In terms of Annex I of the Environmental Protection and Management Law of the Republic of Liberia (2003) this project will primarily fall under Category 7: Energy Industry, and would trigger two activities under this category, GWG_20MW Solar PV_Liberia_ESIA_Draft for EPA_Oct 2020 Non-Technical Summary: ESIA for Gigawatt Global 20 MW Solar PV Plant, Liberia The project will also involve the construction of a medium Site alternatives: GWG undertook a site selection exercise voltage (± 66 kV) transmission line from the solar PV plant based on the following criteria: solar irradiance, existence of to the Mount Coffee substation located at the Mount Coffee transmission lines and substations, land availability and Hydropower Plant. The two Transmission Line (TL) Route ownership, land use, environmentally sensitive features and Options are presented in Figure 2. existing infrastructure. Three possible sites were considered for the development of the project. These included (1) a site The GWG project is responding to shortages in supply of near the Monrovia-Roberts International Airport, (2) a site electricity in Liberia. During the dry season in Liberia the in a commercial zone near Monrovia and (3) the Crawford Mount Coffee Hydropower Plant (MCHPP) runs below its Farm site near Crozierville). The Crawford site selected as it maximum production capacity leading to a shortage in the is located on privately owned land; and also close to the national electricity supply. The ongoing expansion of the existing Côte d'Ivoire-Liberia-Sierra Leone-Guinea (CLSG) national grid and the resulting new private and public off- transmission line and MCHPP substation. takers are driving the need for additional electricity. GWG’s solar PV project is responding to this need. As a result, GWG Transmission line alternatives: Two proposed transmission signed an amended Memorandum of Understating (MoU) line routes were compared for social and ecological criteria. with the Chairman of Liberian Electric Corporation (LEC). Transmission Line Route Option 02 (Figure 2) has been identified as the preferred route with the least Consideration of Alternatives environmental and social impact (mainly because it has already been cleared for the existing CLSG transmission The study considered alternative sites, layout, technology, line). transmission line routes and the No-Go alternative. Criteria used were: ecological (presence of important or threatened No Go alternative: The ‘No Go’ alternative is not biodiversity); social and community (presence or proximity recommended given the small adverse environmental and to communities; land ownership, land use); technical social impacts of the project relative to the project benefits (viability of options and if they can be efficiently for renewable power generation in Liberia. implemented, maintained and operated) and financial (life cycle costs balanced against initial capital expenditure and operational costs). GWG_20MW Solar PV_Liberia_ESIA_Draft for EPA_Oct 2020 Non-Technical Summary: ESIA for Gigawatt Global 20 MW Solar PV Plant, Liberia Figure 1: Regional Locality Map Showing the Location of the Proposed Solar PV Site SLR Consulting (Africa) (Pty) Ltd 3 October 2020 Non-Technical Summary: