ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT PROCESS AMENDED EIA REPORT KAI GARIB CSP TOWER PLANT (PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS UPINGTON SOLAR THERMAL PLANT TWO) NORTHERN CAPE PROVINCE DEA REFERENCE NUMBER: 14/12/16/3/3/2/656 SEPTEMBER 2015 PART 1 Prepared for: Kai Garib CSP (RF) (Pty) Ltd 3 Kiepersol Close, Plattekloof Cape Town, 7550 Prepared by: First Floor, Block 2, 5 Woodlands Drive Office Park Cnr Woodlands Drive & Western Service Road, Woodmead, Gauteng P.O. Box 148, Sunninghill, 2157 Telephone : +27 (0)11 656 3237 Facsimile : +27 (0)86 684 0547 Email : [email protected] PROPOSED ESTABLISHMENT OF THE KAI GARIB CSP TOWER PLANT (PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS UPINGTON SOLAR THERMAL PLANT TWO), NORTHERN CAPE PROVINCE Amended EIA Report September 2015 PROJECT DETAILS DEA Reference Number : 14/12/16/3/3/2/656 Title : Environmental Impact Assessment Process Amended EIA Report: Construction of the Kai Garib CSP Tower Plant (previously known as Upington Solar Thermal Plant Two), Northern Cape Province Authors : Savannah Environmental (Pty) Ltd: Karen Jodas Ravisha Ajoodhapersadh Tebogo Mapinga Marianne Strobach Gabriele Wood Sub-consultants : Savannah Environmental MBL Architects (Pty) Ltd & Landscape Architect (BOLA) Hudson Ecology (Pty) Ltd Scherman Colloty & Associates Johann Lanz Tony Barbour Environmental Consulting and Research Mc Gregor Museum Geological and Palaeontological Consultants Enviro-Acoustic Research cc Client : Kai Garib CSP (RF) (Pty) Ltd (Abengoa Solar Power South Africa (Pty) Ltd) Report Status : Amended EIA Report for submission to Department of Environmental Affairs Date : September 2015 When used as a reference this report should be cited as: Savannah Environmental (2015) Amended Environmental Impact Assessment Report: Construction of the Kai Garib CSP Tower Plant (previously known as Upington Solar Thermal Plant Two), Northern Cape Province. COPYRIGHT RESERVED This technical report has been produced by Savannah Environmental (Pty) Ltd Kai Garib CSP (RF) (Pty) Ltd. No part of the report may be copied, reproduced or used in any manner without written permission from Kai Garib CSP (RF) (Pty) Ltd, or Savannah Environmental (Pty) Ltd. Purpose of the Amended EIA Report Page ii PROPOSED ESTABLISHMENT OF THE KAI GARIB CSP TOWER PLANT (PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS UPINGTON SOLAR THERMAL PLANT TWO), NORTHERN CAPE PROVINCE Amended EIA Report September 2015 PURPOSE OF THE AMENDED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORT Kai Garib CSP (RF) (Pty) Ltd (applicant was Abengoa Solar Power South Africa (Pty) Ltd) is proposing the construction and operation of a commercial solar thermal electricity generating facility (using power tower technology) and associated infrastructure near Upington, Northern Cape Province. The project is known as the Kai Garib CSP Tower Plant (previously referred to as the Upington Solar Thermal Plant Two)1, and is one of three Abengoa Solar CSP facilities proposed to be established on Portion 3 of the farm McTaggarts Camp 453. The three Abengoa Solar facilities are as follows: » Khi Solar One Solar Thermal Plant (a 50MW power tower technology), which is currently under construction (planned commercial operation date is end-2015); » Proposed Upington Solar Thermal Plant Two (now officially called Kai Garib CSP Tower Plant) (up to 150MW using power tower technology), which is the subject of this EIA (DEA Ref Number 14/12/16/3/3/2/656); and » Proposed Upington Solar Thermal Plant Three (up to 125MW using trough plant technology), which is authorised (DEA Ref Number 14/12/16/3/3/2/657). Each project is located on a different area within Portion 3 of the Farm McTaggarts Camp 453, which lies approximately 20 km west of the town of Upington in the Northern Cape. It is the developer’s intention to the CSP Facility under the Department of Energy’s (DoE) Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement (REIPPP) Programme. The power generated from the CSP facility will be sold to Eskom through a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) and will feed into the national electricity grid. Ultimately, the project is intended to be a part of the renewable energy projects portfolio for South Africa. This EIA Report applies to the proposed Upington Solar Thermal Plant Two (i.e. now known as Kai Garib CSP Tower Plant) (DEA Reference Number: 14/12/16/3/3/2/656). It should be noted that the original project name (i.e. Upington Solar Thermal Plant Two) is still used in this report and the appendices. As the project has the potential to impact on the environment, an Environmental Impact Assessment process is required to be completed in support of an application for environmental authorisation. The Scoping Phase of the EIA process identified potential issues associated with the proposed project, and defined the extent of the studies required within the EIA Phase. The EIA Phase addresses that identified potential environmental impacts and benefits associated with all phases of the project including design, construction, operation and decommissioning and recommends appropriate mitigation measures for potentially significant environmental impacts. This amended final EIA report is submitted after taking account of feedback received from the Department of Environmental Affairs on the EIA report dated November 2014. This 1 Kai Garib CSP Tower Plant is now the project’s official name. Purpose of the Amended EIA Report Page iii PROPOSED ESTABLISHMENT OF THE KAI GARIB CSP TOWER PLANT (PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS UPINGTON SOLAR THERMAL PLANT TWO), NORTHERN CAPE PROVINCE Amended EIA Report September 2015 amended EIA report aims to provide the environmental authorities with sufficient information to make an informed decision regarding the proposed project. The EIA process for the Upington Solar Thermal Plant Two commenced in 2013. A draft Environmental Impact Assessment Report was released for public review in August/September 2014. The Final EIA report was submitted to DEA (dated November 2014), and in May 2015 DEA requested: » The EAP to amend the Final EIA report to address the requests for additional information and/or clarity, as per the DEA’s correspondence dated 14 May 2015. » Allow registered I&APS an opportunity to comment on the Amended EIA Report. » Resubmit the Amended EIA report, together with any comments received from registered I&APs, to the DEA within a period of six months for final decision-making. The Final EIA Report has been amended based on the request for clarification from the National Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) dated the 14 May 2014. The Table below provides a summary of the points of clarification from the DEA, and indicates how the information requested and/or amendments have been included in this Amended EIA Report. This Amended EIA Report provides clarification of all the issues raised by the DEA. In addition the following amendments to the project information have been made: a) A change to the project description, where the capacity of the facility has been changed from 125MW to 150MW. The change in the generating capacity the project would only change the generator to be used in the facility. There would be no change/increase in the development footprint of the facility, the height or nature of the infrastructure (i.e. tower and heliostats), the scope of the project and water volume required (remains at 400 000m3 per annum). b) A change to the project description, where the project name has been changed from Upington Solar Thermal Plant Two to Kai Garib CSP Tower Plant and the Applicant changed to Kai Garib CSP (RF) (Pty) Ltd. In terms of Regulation 56(2), this amended EIA Report has been made available to registered interested and affected parties for comment. Purpose of the Amended EIA Report Page iv PROPOSED ESTABLISHMENT OF THE KAI GARIB CSP TOWER PLANT (PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS UPINGTON SOLAR THERMAL PLANT TWO), NORTHERN CAPE PROVINCE Amended EIA Report September 2015 KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE FINAL EIR (DATED NOVEMBER 2014) AND THE AMENDED EIR (DATED SEPTEMBER 2015) Amendments and additional information provided within this Amended EIA report are a) in response to the DEA’s request for additional information and clarity as per the DEA correspondence dated 14 May 2015), and b) to address the amendment to the project description, where the capacity of the facility changes been changed from 125MW to 150MW, and where the project name has been changed from Upington Solar Thermal Plant Two to Kai Garib CSP Tower Plant and the Applicant changed to Kai Garib CSP (RF) (Pty) Ltd. The following summarises the key differences, and full details of the points of clarification requested by DEA and where each is addressed in this Amended report is included in Appendix B: Points for Clarification Amendment to report Amendment to listed activities as applied for in The application form has been amended and will the application form, including: be submitted to the DEA with the copy of the An amended application form with an amended EIAr. The application has also been indication of all the 2010 listed activities included in appendix B of the amended EIAr. that are still listed; An indication of all the similarly listed 2014 All the similarly listed activities listed in the activities; 2014 EIA Regulations have been included in An indication if there are any new 2014 Chapter 5, Table 5.1 of the Amended EIAr. activities that are listed. All similar activities identifies in the 2014 EIA Regulations have been assessed in Chapter 7 of the Amended EIAr. It should be noted that no new listed activities under the 2014 Regulations have been triggered. Assessment of each identified potential impact The amended EIAr as well as the specialist including cumulative impact that have been studies adequately assesses all identified identified in accordance with Regulations 31 (l) potential impact as well as the cumulative of the EIA Regulations, 2010 for all the activities impacts in accordance with Regulations 31 (l) of applied for. the EIA Regulations, 2010 for all the activities applied for.