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ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORT FOR THE PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION OF SEVEN FORKS SOLAR PLANT LOCATED IN MBEERE SOUTH SUB-COUNTY, EMBU COUNTY BY Eco Plan Management Ltd. Mott MacDonald USA LLC P.O BOX 45897-00100, 1585 Sawdust Road, The Woodlands, Texas, NAIROBI 77380, USA TEL: +254 020 2354592 TEL: +1 832 299 7031 Email: [email protected] EMAIL: [email protected] Web page: www.mottmac.com FOR KENYA ELECTRICITY GENERATING COMPANY KenGen Pension Plaza 2 Kolobot Road, Parklands PO.Box 47936-00100 NAIROBI TEL:+254 20 3666000 Web Page: www.kengen.co.ke January 2018 BRIEF PROJECT DESCRIPTION The Kenya Electricity Generating Company Limited (KenGen or the Project Proponent) has identified a need to expand and diversify its generation portfolio. It has engaged K&M Advisors LLC, Mott MacDonald LLC USA and EcoPlan Management Limited (EcoPlan) to develop the proposed Seven Forks Solar Project, a solar photovoltaic (PV) power project with capacity of approximately 45MWAC1in Embu County, Kenya. It is intended that the electricity generated by the Project will be fed into the Kenya National Transmission System (KNTS). It is against this background that the proposed development of the Seven Folks Solar Power Plant Project has been subjected to an Environmental Impact Assessment in compliance with the requirements of Environmental Management and Coordination Act (EMCA) 1999 and Environmental (Impact Assessment and Audit) regulations 2003.The Kenya Government policy on all new projects requires that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study be carried out at the project planning phase in order to ensure that significant impacts on the environment are taken into consideration at the construction, operational and decommissioning stages. The following document contains four sections, namely; 1) Non-Technical Summary (NTS) 2) Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Study Report (ESIA) 3) Environmental and Social Monitoring Plan (ESMP) 4) Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) Conclusions and Recommendations The consulting team’s opinion is that the project is important for the economic development of the area and for its success; the proponent is advised to balance environmental and social considerations and benefits through implementation of the proposed mitigation measures. It is recommended that preventive measures be given first and due consideration in order to reduce costs of undertaking the mitigation measures and at the same time reduce the overall project impacts. It is also recommended that, the project impacts be continuously monitored, and the monitoring results be documented, analyzed and reviewed against recommended standards to enable take appropriate action in good time. Seven Forks Solar Project Volume I Non-Technical Summary December 22, 2017 Kenya Electricity Generating Company Ltd Final Mott MacDonald 1585 Sawdust Road Suite 175 The Woodlands TX 77380 United States of America T +1 (281) 292 2639 F +1 (281) 298 3274 mottmac.com Kenya Electricity Generating Company Ltd Capital Planning and PPP Seven Forks Solar Project Manager 383185 1 C P.O. Box 47936-00100 Volume I Nonhttps://mottmac.sharepoint.com/teams/pj-Technical Summary-b2116/Shared Documents/22 ESIA/Final for Nairobi, Kenya disclosure/383185 Final Volume I NTS_REV C.docx Mott MacDonald December 22, 2017 Kenya Electricity Generating Company Ltd Final Mott MacDonald | Seven Forks Solar Project Volume I Non-Technical Summary Issue and revision record Revision Date Originator Checker Approver Description A 01 December E Lamb N Davies L Stone Draft Report prior to public 2017 I Keino meeting B 15 December A Martins M Lupton N Davies Draft Report post public 2017 meeting C 22 December A Martins M Lupton M Lupton Final Report 2017 Document reference: 383185 | 1 | C Information class: Standard This document is issued for the party which commissioned it and for specific purposes connected with the above- captioned project only. It should not be relied upon by any other party or used for any other purpose. We accept no responsibility for the consequences of this document being relied upon by any other party, or being used for any other purpose, or containing any error or omission which is due to an error or omission in data supplied to us by other parties. This document contains confidential information and proprietary intellectual property. It should not be shown to other parties without consent from us and from the party which commissioned it. This report has been pr epared sol el y for use by the party which commissi oned it (the ‗Client‘) i n connecti on with the capti oned proj ect. It should not be used for any other purpose. N o person other than the Client or any party who has expressl y agreed ter ms of r eliance with us (the ‗Reci pient(s)‘) may rel y on the content, i nformati on or any views expressed i n the repor t. We accept no duty of care, responsi bility or liability to any other r eci pient of thi s document. T his r eport is confi denti al and contains pr opri etar y intell ectual property. No representati on, warranty or under taking, expr ess or i mplied, is made and no responsi bility or liability is accepted by us to any party other than the Cli ent or any Reci pient(s), as to the accuracy or completeness of the i nformati on contai ned i n this r eport. For the avoidance of doubt this r eport does not in any way purport to i nclude any legal , insur ance or fi nanci al advice or opi nion. We disclai m all and any liability whether arising i n tort or contract or other wise which it might otherwise have to any party other than the Cli ent or the Reci pient(s), in r espect of this report, or any infor mation attri buted to i t. We accept no r esponsibility for any error or omission i n the r eport which is due to an error or omission i n data, infor mation or statements supplied to us by other par ties incl udi ng the client (‗D ata‘). We have not i ndependentl y verified such D ata and have assumed it to be accurate, complete, reli abl e and current as of the date of such infor mation. Forecasts presented i n this document were pr epared usi ng Data and the report is dependent or based on D ata. Inevitabl y, some of the assumptions used to develop the for ecasts will not be realised and unantici pated events and circumstances may occur. C onsequentl y M ott MacDonal d does not guarantee or warr ant the concl usi ons contained i n the repor t as there are li kel y to be differ ences between the for ecasts and the actual results and those di ffer ences may be material. Whil e we consi der that the infor mation and opini ons gi ven i n this r eport are sound all parti es must rel y on their own skill and j udgement when making use of it. Under no circumstances may this report or any extr act or summar y ther eof be used in connection with any public or pri vate sec urities offering i ncluding any rel ated memorandum or prospectus for any securities offering or stock exchange listing or announcement. 383185 | 1 | C | December 22, 2017 https://mottmac.sharepoint.com/teams/pj-b2116/Shared Documents/22 ESIA/Final for disclosure/383185 Final Volume I NTS_REV C.docx Mott MacDonald | Seven Forks Solar Project Volume I Non-Technical Summary Contents Glossary of terms 1 Acronyms 4 Preface 5 1 Introduction and background 6 1.1 Overview 6 1.2 What is the objective and scope of the ESIA? 6 1.3 Who is KenGen? 7 1.4 What is photovoltaic (PV) solar power? 7 1.5 Where is the Project located? 7 2 Project 12 2.1 Why is the Project needed? 12 2.2 What alternatives have been considered? 12 2.3 What is the Project? 13 2.4 What are the main Project activities? 13 2.5 How much will the Project cost? 14 2.6 What is the planned Project schedule? 14 2.7 What standards have been applied to the Project? 14 2.8 How has the Project been categorised? 14 2.9 Are there any associated facilities? 14 3 Environmental and social assessment 15 3.1 How was the Project assessed? 15 3.2 What consultation and participation has been performed? 15 4 Findings of the environmental and social impact assessment 17 4.1 Project enhancement projects 17 4.2 What are the potential risk and impacts? 17 4.3 Risks and impacts of the Project by topic 19 4.4 Will there be cumulative impacts with other projects? 26 4.5 How will KenGen oversee and manage the Project? 26 5 Conclusion 28 5.1 What are the key findings? 28 5.2 What is the overall outcome of the ESIA? 29 383185 | 1 | C | December 22, 2017 https://mottmac.sharepoint.com/teams/pj-b2116/Shared Documents/22 ESIA/Final for disclosure/383185 Final Volume I NTS_REV C.docx Mott MacDonald | Seven Forks Solar Project Volume I Non-Technical Summary Tables Table 1: Glossary of terms 1 Table 2: Contact details 5 Figures Figure 1: General operation of a ground based solar power plant 7 Figure 2: Project Location 8 Figure 3: Project Components 9 Figure 4: Preliminary representative plant layout 10 Figure 5: Example of site vegetation 11 Figure 6: View across the site looking north 11 Figure 7: Grazing on land 11 Figure 8: Bee hives at site 11 Figure 9: Bodies consulted during performance of the ESIA 16 383185 | 1 | C | December 22, 2017 https://mottmac.sharepoint.com/teams/pj-b2116/Shared Documents/22 ESIA/Final for disclosure/383185 Final Volume I NTS_REV C.docx Mott MacDonald | Seven Forks Solar Project 1 Volume I Non-Technical Summary Glossary of terms Table 1: Glossary of terms Term Definitions Area of Influence The area over which the impacts of the Project are likely to be felt as well as any reasonably (AOI) foreseen unplanned