Wolmaransstad 75mw Solar Energy Facility, North West Province DEA REF: 14/12/16/3/3/2/576 External Environmental Compliance Audit Report of the Environmental Management Programme (EMPr), in accordance with Regulation 54(A) of the EIA Regulations (2017) December 2019 External Environmental Compliance Report December 2019 Wolmaransstad 75MW Solar Energy Facility North West Province Prepared for: Bluewave Capital SA (Pty) Ltd Unit EB05, Tannery Park, 23 Belmont Road, Rondebosch, 7700 Prepared by: Wolmaransstad 75 MW Solar Energy Facility North West Province December 2019 REPORT DETAILS DEA Reference No. : 14/12/16/3/3/2/576 Environmental Karen Jodas (Savannah Environmental) Assessment Practitioner (EAP) : External Environmental Compliance Report for the Wolmaransstad 75MW Solar Title Energy Facility (SEF), North West Province Author : Savannah Environmental (Pty) Ltd Kritanya Naidoo Internal Review Jo-Anne Thomas Client : Bluewave Capital SA (Pty) Ltd Report Revision : Final Date : December 2019 When used as a reference this report should be cited as: Savannah Environmental (2019) External Environmental Compliance Report for Wolmaransstad 75MW Solar Energy Facility, North West Province. COPYRIGHT RESERVED This technical report has been produced for Bluewave Capital SA (Pty) Ltd. The intellectual property contained in this report remains vested in Savannah Environmental (Pty) Ltd. No part of the report may be reproduced in any manner without written permission from Savannah Environmental (Pty) Ltd or Bluewave Capital SA (Pty) Ltd. Report Details Page i Wolmaransstad 75 MW Solar Energy Facility North West Province December 2019 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS DEA Department of Environmental Affairs (National) DoE Department of Energy EA Environmental Authorisation EAP Environmental Assessment Practitioner ECO Environmental Control Officer EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EMPr Environmental Management Programme I&AP Interested and Affected Party IPP Independent Power Producer MW Megawatts Acronyms and Abbreviations Page iii Wolmaransstad 75 MW Solar Energy Facility North West Province December 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE REPORT DETAILS ............................................................................................................................................................ i DECLARATION OF INTEREST ......................................................................................................................................... ii ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................................ iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................................... iv 1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Project Background .................................................................................................................................... 1 2. OBJECTIVE OF THE AUDIT ............................................................................................................................. 2 3. PURPOSE AND SCOPE .................................................................................................................................. 2 4. OVERVIEW OF THE INDEPENDENT ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITORS ................................................................ 4 5. ASSUMPTIONS AND LIMITATIONS ................................................................................................................ 4 6. APPROACH TO CONDUCTING THE AUDIT ................................................................................................... 4 6.1. Pre-audit planning .......................................................................................................................................4 6.2. Conducting the Audit .................................................................................................................................. 5 6.3. Post Audit ...................................................................................................................................................... 5 7. FINDINGS OF THE AUDIT ............................................................................................................................... 4 8. AUDIT RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................... 16 8.1. Overview of Audit Findings and Conclusion ........................................................................................... 16 9. EVALUATION OF THE EMPR ........................................................................................................................ 16 9.1. Ongoing impact avoidance, management and mitigation ................................................................ 16 9.2. Closure impact avoidance, management and mitigation ................................................................... 17 9.3. Ensuring compliance with provisions of the EMP ................................................................................... 17 10. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................................................................. 17 11. STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION .................................................................................................................. 17 11.1. Notification of all potential and registered interested and affected parties ....................................... 17 APPENDICES Appendix A: CVs of Independent Auditor/s and Report Reviewer Appendix B: Advertisement of submission of the Audit Report Appendix C: Notification to registered I&APs of submission of the Audit Report Appendix D: Confirmation letter on current status of the project Table of Contents Page iv Wolmaransstad 75 MW Solar Energy Facility North West Province December 2019 1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND Savannah Environmental (Pty) Ltd has been appointed by Bluewave Capital SA (Pty) Ltd to undertake an external environmental compliance audit and prepare an external environmental compliance audit report in accordance with the requirements of Regulation 54(a) of the EIA Regulations, 2014, as amended, for the Wolmaransstad 75MW Solar Energy located north-west of the town of Wolmaransstad, within the North West Province. The external environmental compliance audit was conducted to demonstrate Bluewave Capital SA (Pty) Ltd’s compliance with the EMPr applicable to the project. 1.1. Project Background Bluewave Capital SA (Pty) Ltd is proposing the establishment of a commercial solar electricity generating facility and associated infrastructure on the remainder of Portion 2 of the Farm Wolmaransstad and Townlands 184, situated north-west of the town of Wolmaransstad, within the North West Province. The proposed project is proposed to be developed on the The proposed Wolmaransstad 75MW SEF will make use of photovoltaic (PV) technology with a generating capacity of up to 75MW and will comprise of the following infrastructure: » Photovoltaic (PV) panels of between 4m – 6m in height (fixed or tracking technology) with a contracted capacity of up to 75MW » Mounting structures to be either rammed steel piles or piles with pre-manufactured concrete footing to support the PV panels » Cabling between the project components, to be lain in trenches ~ 1-2m deep » Power inverters between the PV arrays (±4.5m2) » Overhead power line to evacuate the power into the Eskom grid via the existing Goat DS 132/88kV Substation or the Wolmaransstad Municipality 88/11kV Substation » Main and internal access roads (up to 7m wide) » Water storage facility/ reservoir » Office, workshop area for maintenance and storage » Temporary laydown area » Perimeter fencing Construction has not yet commenced for the Wolmaransstad 75MW SEF (refer to Appendix D for a letter from the applicant confirming the project status). This external environmental compliance report was completed on the 2nd of December 2019 and focuses on the pre-construction conditions of the project EMPr dated April 2015. 2. OBJECTIVE OF THE AUDIT The objective of this environmental audit as contained in Appendix 7 of the 2014 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations (GNR 326) and Regulation 54(a) is to: » Report on: * The level of compliance with the conditions of the EMPr. External Environmental Compliance Report Page 1 Wolmaransstad 75 MW Solar Energy Facility North West Province December 2019 * The extent to which the avoidance, management and mitigation measures provided for in the EMPr, achieve the objectives and outcomes of the EMPr. » Identify and assess any new impacts and risks as a result of undertaking the activity. » Evaluate the effectiveness of the EMPr. » Identify shortcomings in the EMPr. » Identify the need for any changes to the avoidance, management and mitigation measures provided for in the EMPr. This Environmental Audit Report has been prepared in accordance with Appendix 7 of the 2014 EIA Regulations (GNR 326). An overview of the contents of the Environmental Compliance Audit Report, as prescribed by Appendix 7 of the 2014 EIA Regulations (GNR 326), and where the corresponding information can be found within the report is provided in Table 1. Table 1: Summary of where the requirements of Appendix 7 of the 2014 EIA Regulations (GNR 326) are provided in this Environmental Compliance