Draft Basic Assessment Report
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DRAFT BASIC ASSESSMENT REPORT for BLOEMSMOND GRID CONNECTION INFRASTRUCTURE On Portion 5 of Farm Bloemsmond 455, Portion 14 of Farm Bloemsmond 455, Remainder of Farm Dyasonsklip 454, Remainder of Farm Rooipunt 617, Remainder 638 Tungsten Lodge and Olyvenhouts Drift Settlement Agricultural Holding 1080. In terms of the National Environmental Management Act (Act No. 107 of 1998, as amended) & 2014 Environmental Impact Regulations Prepared for Applicant: Bloemsmond Grid (Pty) Ltd. Date: 04 October 2019 Author of Report: Dale Holder Author Email: [email protected] Report Reference: KAI582/07 Department Reference: to be allocated Case Officer: Click here to enter Case Officer Name DOCUMENT TRACKING DOCUMENT HISTORY REVISION DATE AUTHOR Draft Basic Assessment Report 04 October 2019 Dale Holder Final Basic Assessment Report Pending Draft Environmental Management Programme 04 October 2019 Dale Holder Final Environmental Management Programme Pending APPROVAL FOR RELEASE NAME TITLE SIGNATURE Dale Holder Senior Environmental Practitioner DISTRIBUTION DISTRIBUTION LIST Department of Environmental Affairs Atlantic Energy Partners SUBMISSION AND CORRESPONDENCE SUBMISSION / CORRESPONDENCE DATE Application form Submitted 04 October 2019 Application form Acknowledged Pending Draft Basic Assessment Report Submitted 04 October 2019 Draft Basic Assessment Report Acknowledged Pending Comment on Draft Basic Assessment Report Pending Final Basic Assessment Report Submitted Pending APPOINTED ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT PRACTITIONER: Cape EAPrac Environmental Assessment Practitioners PO Box 2070 George 6530 Tel: 044-874 0365 Fax: 044-874 0432 Report written & compiled by: Dale Holder (Ndip Nature Conservation), who has over 15 years’ experience as an environmental practitioner. Registrations: Director, Louise-Mari van Zyl (MA Geography & Environmental Science [US]; Registered Environmental Assessment Practitioner with the Interim Certification Board for Environmental Assessment Practitioners of South Africa, EAPSA). Ms van Zyl has over fifteen years’ experience as an environmental practitioner. PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT: I&AP Review and Comment APPLICANT: Bloemsmond Grid (Pty) Ltd CAPE EAPRAC REFERENCE NO: KAI582/07 DEPARTMENT REFERENCE: To be allocated SUBMISSION DATE: 04 October 2019 Draft Basic Assessment Report in terms of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998 as amended) & Environmental Impact Regulations2014 (as amended) Bloemsmond Grid Connection Infrastructure Portion 5 of Farm Bloemsmond 455, Portion 14 of Farm Bloemsmond 455, Remainder of Farm Dyasonsklip 454, Remainder of Farm Rooipunt 617, Remainder 638 Tungsten Lodge and Olyvenhouts Drift Settlement Agricultural Holding 1080. Submitted for: Stakeholder Review & Comment This report is the property of the Author/Company, who may publish it, in whole, provided that: • Written approval is obtained from the Author and that Cape EAPrac is acknowledged in the publication; • Cape EAPrac is indemnified against any claim for damages that may result from any publication of specifications, recommendations or statements that is not administered or controlled by Cape EAPrac; • The contents of this report, including specialist/consultant reports, may not be used for purposes of sale or publicity or advertisement without the prior written approval of Cape EAPrac; • Cape EAPrac accepts no responsibility by the Applicant/Client for failure to follow or comply with the recommended programme, specifications or recommendations contained in this report; • Cape EAPrac accepts no responsibility for deviation or non-compliance of any specifications or recommendations made by specialists or consultants whose input/reports are used to inform this report; and • All figures, plates and diagrams are copyrighted and may not be reproduced by any means, in any form, in part or whole without prior written approved from Cape EAPrac. Report Issued by: Cape Environmental Assessment Practitioners Tel: 044 874 0365 PO Box 2070 Fax: 044 874 0432 17 Progress Street, George 6530 Web: www.cape-eaprac.co.za Cape EAPrac Draft Basic Assessment Report REPORT DETAILS Title: Draft Basic Assessment Report for Bloemsmond Grid Connection Infrastructure Purpose of this report: This Draft Basic Assessment Report is made available to all registered and potential Interested and Affected Parties (I&APs) for review and comment and all comments received will be incorporated into the Final Basic Assessment Report that will be submitted to the competent authority for decision making. This BAR forms part of a series of reports and information sources that are being provided during the Basic Assessment Process for the proposed Bloemsmond Grid Connection Infrastructure near Keimoes in the Northern Cape Province. Registered I&APs will be given an opportunity to comment on the following reports as part of this environmental process: - Draft Basic Assessment Report, - All Specialist Studies, and - Draft Environmental Management Programme. In accordance with the regulations, the objectives of an environmental process are to, through a consultative process: (a)identify the relevant policies and legislation relevant to the activity; (b) motivate the need and desirability of the proposed activity, including the need and desirability of the activity in the context of the preferred location; (c) identify and confirm the preferred activity and technology alternative through an impact and risk assessment and ranking process; (d) identify and confirm the preferred site, through a detailed site selection process, which includes an impact and risk assessment process inclusive of cumulative impacts and a ranking process of all the identified alternatives focusing on the geographical, physical, biological, social, economic, and cultural aspects of the environment; (e) identify the key issues to be addressed in the assessment phase; (f) agree on the level of assessment to be undertaken, including the methodology to be applied, the expertise required as well as the extent of further consultation to be undertaken to determine the impacts and risks the activity will impose on the preferred site through the life of the activity, including the nature, significance, consequence, extent, duration and probability of the impacts to inform the location of the development footprint within the preferred site; and (g) identify suitable measures to avoid, manage or mitigate identified impacts and to determine the extent of the residual risks that need to be managed and monitored. This Draft Basic Assessment Report was available to all registered and potential interested and affected parties for a 30-day review and comment period extending from 14 October 2019 – 14 November 2019. All comments received during this comment period will be incorporated into the Final BAR that will be submitted to the DEA for Decision making. Prepared for: Bloemsmond Grid (Pty) Ltd Published by: Cape Environmental Assessment Practitioners (Pty) Ltd. (Cape EAPrac) Authors: Mr Dale Holder Reviewed by: Ms Melissa Mackay Cape EAPrac Ref: KAI582/07 DEA Case officer & Ref. No: To be allocated – Application and Draft Basic Assessment Report submitted simultaneously. Date: 04 October 2019 To be cited as: Cape EAPrac, 2019. Draft Basic Assessment Report for Bloemsmond Grid Connection Infrastructure. Report Reference: KAI582.07. George. TECHNICAL CHECKLIST The following technical checklist is included as a quick reference roadmap for the proposed project. Applicant Details Applicant Name: Bloemsmond Grid (Pty) Ltd Company Registration Number: 2014/142363/07 BBBEE Status: n/a Project Name: Bloemsmond Grid Connection Infrastructure Cape EAPrac Draft Basic Assessment Report Size of the study area Size in ha of study area. A grid connection corridor (from the on-site substations to the Bloemsmond Collector Substation and from the Bloemsmond Collector Substation to the Upington MTS) have been assessed. This corridor is approximately 300m wide and increases to ~1.3 km at the Upington MTS. The total surface area of the asssed corridor is 1512ha. Development Footprint Inclusive of substations and powerline. The proposed development constitutes, both linear and non linear components. Non Linear components: • Bloemsmond 3 - Eskom Portion of on-site substation: 5000m2 (50m x 100m). • Bloemsmond 4 - Eskom Portion of on-site substation: 5000m2 (50m x 100m). • Bloemsmond 5 - Eskom Portion of on-site substation: 5000m2 (50m x 100m). • Bloemsmond Collector Substation: 11250m2 (150m x 75m). The non linear aspects of this development will therefore have a development footprint of approximately 26350m2 Linear components • 33kV or 132kV overhead powerline from Bloemsmond 3 to Collector substation: 4480m • 33kV or 132kV overhead powerline from Bloemsmond 4 to Collector substation: 4400m • 33kV or 132kV overhead powerline from Bloemsmond 5 to Collector substation: 9270m • DCt or 2 x SCt 132kV overhead powerlines from Bloemsmond collector to Upington MTS: 12500m The linear aspects of this development will thus be approximately 30650m Capacity of the facilities / Capacity of facilities and infrastructure in kV) 33kV – 132kV infrastructure Grid connection components Conductor Kingbird / Twin Kingbird / Tern / Twin Tern Structure height • Pylon Structures: Approximately 30.5m; • Substation buildings: Approximately 8m; • Lightning conductors at substation: Approximately 21m. Laydown area dimensions Approximately 1ha of laydown area will be required per substation. Total laydown area for the project will