The importance of resource conservation, challenges and opportunities: case study of the EWT work in the SERE Wind farm Introduction • South Africa is rolling out renewable energy developments quicker than most countries in an attempt to meet growing electricity demands while diversifying the energy mix • Renewable energy facilities are generally cheap and quick to construct (ideal for countries facing an energy crisis) but produce far less energy per facility than large scale nuclear or coal facilities (40-50 wind turbines =100MW, Medupi 1 unit = 800MW, thus x6 = 4800MW). Renewable technology does not always generate at maximum capacity – sun isn`t always shining, wind isn`t always blowing • The Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Program (REIPPPP) is the vehicle through which developers apply for MW allocations and reach preferred bidder status. This enables the Department of Energy to “release” power to the grid at a rate that transmission infrastructure and substations can accommodate it So Renewable energy is a green energy ? Does it have an impact on our biodiversity ? Solar PV • Displacement • Disturbance during construction and maintenance • Habitat destruction (approximately 80ha per 75kw) • Collision with PV panels • The `lake effect` - Birds mistake the smooth reflective surface of panels for a water body and are drawn to it • Birds nesting underneath panels • Impacts associated with power lines Concentrated Solar Power • Parabolic trough systems • Displacement • Disturbance during construction and maintenance • Habitat destruction • Collision with heliostats • The `lake effect` - Birds mistake the smooth reflective surface of heliostats for a water body and are drawn to it • Impacts associated with power lines • Power Tower Technology • Displacement • Disturbance during construction and maintenance • Habitat destruction • Collision with heliostats • The `lake effect` - Birds mistake the smooth reflective surface of heliostats for a water body and are drawn to it • Impacts associated with power lines • Collision with central receiving tower • Burning in the focal standby points/solar flux. Usually affects faster flying species • Creating a potential roost or perch in an otherwise uniform landscape • `Mega Traps` • Thermals above the central receiving tower? (565˚C) Wind energy • Displacement • Disturbance during construction and maintenance • Habitat destruction • Collision with turbine blades (or struck by turbine blades) • Impacts associated with power lines • Creating a potential roost or perch (static turbines) in an otherwise uniform landscape Associated infrastructure • The associated infrastructure survey aims to include the positive and negative interactions of wildlife with other structures associated with the wind farm development • This includes the power line linking Sere to the sub-station, the office building, workshop and sub-station buildings, the two meteorological masts, water tower and any other infrastructure associated with the development. The survey is completed once a month. • The Roadkill survey focuses on the access road to Sere as well as internal roads on the facility. SERE: Eskom’s flagship renewable project… Sere is Eskom’s 100MW wind farm on the west coast of South Africa SERE In support of 13 Some technical details…. 47 turbines generating enough power to electrify 124 000 homes. Since the energising of the first wind turbine in October 2014, Sere has contributed over 332.8 GWhrs of energy to the In support of 14 national power grid in the first year of operations. A reflection……. A visit to Sere will leave you struck by the beauty of clean power…standing beneath the turbines, you hear the blades breathing as they ‘swoosh’ past and send power to the country… In support of 15 Environmentally friendly… On 3700ha of beautiful west coast property, the wind farm will save 6 million tons CO2 of over its operation In support of 16 The Eskom / EWT partnership at SERE To establish what impact the wind farm might have on the bird and bat populations, the Eskom/EWT partnership do daily monitoring in the form of walking a grid around the turbines. In support of 17 Grid monitoring: Grids are established 125m out from the turbine Designed to locate any birds or bats killed by the turbine blades, the grid walks are detailed and are corrected for observer accuracy and scavenger bias…..very scientific! Locating carcasses in such terrain is a challenge…imagine trying to find a small bat. In support of 18 Local conservation at work… Despite the rural location of SERE, all employed staff were sourced locally. Kirsten (the boss) is from just down the road and responded to a newspaper advert for the job!! In support of 19 In support of 20 SERE: a partnership for renewable sustainable development In support of 21 Conclusion Conclusion In support of 24 Thank You ! Constant Hoogstad – Endangered Wildlife Trust 011 372 3600 082 334 4174 [email protected] .