Project managers of a proposed gigantic wind farm between Riebeek East and Alicedale, near Grahamstown, have called for individuals and organisations to register as interested and affected parties.
Project managers of a proposed gigantic wind farm between Riebeek East and Alicedale, near Grahamstown, have called for individuals and organisations to register as interested and affected parties.
This is the first legislated stage in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process for the proposed Spitskop East Wind Energy facility.
Such projects are subject to approval by the national Department of Economic Development and Environmental Affairs (Dedea).
The construction of up to 57 turbines over an area of about 20 000m is proposed on portions of 14 farms in the area. Riebeek East is 39km from Grahamstown; Alicedale around 45km.
Both fall under Makana Municipality; however the areas under assessment are under both the Blue Crane Route local municipality and Makana.
An earlier application for a larger project, named Spitskop, was started in January 2011 but withdrawn.
EIA facilitators Sustainable Futures ZA describe the associated infrastructure in their notification document.
Seated in concrete or rock foundations, the turbines will have a hub height of 80-122m and a rotor diameter of approximately 133m, the document says. Each blade will be as long as 65m. Each turbine will have a small transformer, cabling between turbines and buildings include those for workshops, control systems and maintenance.
"The South African Government has set a target of 17GW renewable energy contribution to new power generation capacity by 2030," the introductory document reads. "This is to be produced mainly from biomass, wind, solar and small-scale hydro.
"The proposed Spitskop East Wind Energy Project aims to assist government in meeting this goal."
The company behind the project is Renewable Energy Systems (RES) Southern Africa. Environmental consultants Savannah Environmental have been appointed by RES.
Download the following documents to take a look for yourself:
