PROPOSED COEGA WIND ENERGY PROJECT, EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE OF SOUTH AFRICA ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT VOLUME 3: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORT DEA REFERENCE NUMBER: 12/12/20/2085 Prepared for: Prepared by: InnoWind (Pty) Limited Coastal & Environmental Services P.O. Box 934 P.O. Box 1116 Grahamstown, 6140 Port Elizabeth, 6000 South Africa South Africa MAY 2011 REPORTS PRODUCED AS PART OF THIS EIA: Volume 1: Environmental Scoping Report Volume 2: Specialist Reports Volume 3: Environmental Impact Assessment Report Volume 4: Environmental Management Programme This Report should be cited as follows: Coastal & Environmental Services (May 2011). Environmental Impact Assessment for the Proposed Coega Wind Energy Project. Volume 3: Environmental Impact Assessment Report. CES, Grahamstown. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION This document contains intellectual property and propriety information that is protected by copyright in favour of Coastal & Environmental Services and the specialist consultants. The document may therefore not be reproduced, used or distributed to any third party without the prior written consent of Coastal & Environmental Services. This document is prepared exclusively for submission to InnoWind (Pty) Limited, and is subject to all confidentiality, copyright and trade secrets, rules intellectual property law and practices of South Africa. Volume 3: Environmental Impact Report – May 2011 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Background InnoWind (Pty) Limited - a Franco-South African Independent Power Producer that develops, finances, builds, operates and maintains commercial wind powered electricity generation facilities, plans to develop a wind energy facility (often referred to as a „wind farm‟) on a portion of Zone 14 of the Coega Industrial Development Zone (IDZ), two property portions adjacent to Zone 14, and on Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) property immediately north of Zone 14. The IDZ is situated in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBMM) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, approximately 15km north-east of Port Elizabeth. The PPC portion of the study area is currently mined for limestone ore for the production of cement. Coastal & Environmental Services (CES) have been appointed by InnoWind as the Environmental Assessment Practitioner (EAP) to conduct the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process. According to InnoWind the motivation for the proposed project in general terms arose from the following potential benefits: Electricity supply Over the last few years, Port Elizabeth has been adversely impacted by interruptions in the supply of electricity for the area. The implementation of an embedded renewable power generation facility (i.e. one that is not located in the traditionally centralized coal-power producing regions of the Republic of South Africa) next to the city, while forming part of the national power grid, will help stabilize and supplement the local power grid, especially during cold fronts of the winter season when consumption is at its highest and wind yields are too. It will further ease the increased electricity consumption that the expansion of industrial and residential facilities will require. The establishment of the proposed project will contribute to strengthening the existing electricity grid for the area and will aid the government in achieving its goal of a 30% share of all new power generation being derived from Independent Power Producers (IPP). Employment and skills transfer The proposed project will help with the creation of employment and transfer of new technical skills to the residents of the area during both the project development and operations phases of the project. Research and training The proposed development will be located close to Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) and as such, will provide a unique opportunity for students and academics to study a wind farm in the South African context. Such research could include monitoring the effectiveness of proposed mitigation measures. It is to be noted that InnoWind and NMMU signed a Memorandum of Understanding in March 2010 to strengthen the collaboration between the two parties. Social upliftment and local participation The need to improve the quality of life of previously disadvantaged communities is critical to South Africa. The proposed project as structured by InnoWind and in collaboration with Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), will contribute directly to the employment of individuals within the project study area, and more specifically to the identification of community development, education and welfare upliftment initiatives that will be resourced by way of a community development trust fund, the Ibhayi Winds of Change Trust, that will be established specifically for that purpose and funded by a significant portion of the wind energy facility profits themselves. The identified social development projects will be aimed at the fundamental improvement of communities residing near Coega, and more specifically in the adjacent Motherwell Township. To achieve this, InnoWind has entered into an agreement with NMMU to jointly carry-out work relating to the establishment of the above- mentioned trust as InnoWind has done in other wind farm projects, most notably that with Rhodes University for the proposed Waainek Wind Farm Project near Grahamstown. Coastal & Environmental Services i Coega Wind Energy Project Volume 3: Environmental Impact Report – May 2011 Reduction in CO2 emissions: The current project will contribute towards the growth of the South African renewable energy sector and, more specifically, the country‟s wind energy portfolio. Once a number of wind energy facilities are in operation around the country, it is highly probable that at least some will be spinning at any given time. As such, collectively they will provide a reliable “green” input to the national grid (although less than their theoretical maximum combined generating capacity). Initial modelling has been performed and shows a likely 30% capacity base-load from installed wind capacity in SA, thanks to its geographically dispersed different wind regimes. As such, each MWh generated from a wind farm will equate to a MWh not being produced by a conventional source (coal), and thus avoiding the emission of approximately 1 ton of CO2 into the atmosphere. Further, in addition to the above-mentioned benefits, the proposed project site was selected due to: Preliminary indications of good wind resources suitable for the installation of a wind energy facility. Proximity to grid connection opportunities such as the Eskom Dedisa and Grassridge Substations located within the Coega IDZ and the Motherwell municipal substation. The surrounding area is not densely populated and is situated in an approved IDZ suitable for this type of industry i.e. land use compatibility with an industrial zone which already includes a number of tall structures. Need for additional energy capacity – both with the IDZ and the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBMM). The potential and appetite within the NMBMM to engage with new and clean technologies. The proposed Coega wind energy project study area is depicted in Figure 1 below. Figure 1: Google Maps image indicating the location of individual property portions within the study area (blue polygons) Coastal & Environmental Services ii Coega Wind Energy Project Volume 3: Environmental Impact Report – May 2011 Project Description As per government notification from DEA (1st April 2011), the aforementioned property layout of four property portions and seventy five (75) turbines as stated within the Scoping report (Coastal & Environmental Services, November 2010: Final Environmental Scoping Report: Proposed Coega Wind Energy Project. CES, Grahamstown), has been reduced. The wind farm will now be spread over two adjacent property portions in the Coega/Grassridge area. The two land portions are planned to host up to seventy (70) turbines, each with a nominal power output ranging between 2-3 Mega Watts (MW). The total potential output of the wind farm would be approximately 210 MW, which will serve to further support the regional and national power balance. Provisionally, the 70 turbines have been allocated to the respective property portions as follows: 1. Zone 14 IDZ (Farms Bontrug 301 and Brak River SW 224): 15 turbines 2. PPC (Farms Grassridge 190, 227 and 228, Oliphants Kop 201): 55 turbines The final number of turbines and their definitive placement have been further informed by EIA phase specialist study and assessment conducted for this report. The ultimate size of the wind turbines will depend on further technical assessments but will typically consist of rotor turbines (3x50m length blades) with rotor diameters of around 100 meters mounted atop a 80 - 100 meter high steel (or hybrid steel/concrete) tower. Other infrastructure components associated with the proposed wind energy facility are inter alia: Concrete foundations to support the wind turbine towers; Approximately 4 meter wide internal access roads to each turbine Underground electricity reticulation cables connecting the wind turbines to one another 33 kilo Volt (kV) overhead power lines linking the site to the Grassridge or/and Motherwell Substation (to be confirmed) The necessary upgrades/extensions to the Eskom substations that may be required, additional line bays and transformers, busbars etc. The term “wind energy” describes the process by which wind is used to generate mechanical power or electricity.