The draft report for the proposed Spitskop East Wind Energy Facility is now available to the public for review and comment from 24 June to 8 August.
The draft report for the proposed Spitskop East Wind Energy Facility is now available to the public for review and comment from 24 June to 8 August.
The project proposes the building of a huge wind farm between Riebeek East and Alicedale. It could house up to 57 turbines and cover an area of about 20 000m.
The availability of a draft gives the public the opportunity to check that all potential issues with the proposed project have been identified and discussed. It aims to engage with the public and define the scope of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which measures the potential environmental impact. The final report will include comments made by the public.
Savannah Environmental was appointed as the independent environmental consultant and the job includes drafting the scope report. The draft outlined the objective of the wind farm as “to maximise electricity production through exposure to the wind resource while minimalizing infrastructure, operational and maintenance costs as well as social and environmental impacts.”
Alongside discussions of details of the construction and infrastructural needs, the report contains lists of the positive and negative aspects of the project.
Positives include the creation of clean, renewable energy for the national grid, a stable power supply for the Eastern Cape and job creation during the construction phase.
While no fatal environmental flaws were identified, the negative list states that the visual impact, noise impact and habitat loss that the project would cause are problematic.
The visual impact has been an issue of strong contestation with some parties believing that the construction will have an undesirable aesthetic impact on the area which would affect game farms, homesteads and travellers driving along major roads.
Negative impacts on the economies of business, especially tourism, in this area are felt to be a possibility.
On 24 June, Sustainable Futures ZA published an announcement stating that the draft would be available in public libraries.
Process specialist for the company, Shawn Johnston, stated that the draft had been couriered to Grahamstown. However, as of 25 June, the document was not yet available in the Makana Library.
A public feedback and open day event regarding the draft scope is being held on 16 July at Riebeek East Community Hall from 9am to 7pm. All interested and affected parties are invited to attend.
The draft scoping report is available to view at savannahsa.com/projects/project.php?project=303
