Merino Wind Farm

NOTICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENTAND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PROCESSES FOR THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT OF THE MERINO WIND FARM NEAR RICHMOND, NORTHERN CAPE PROVINCE

Applicant: Great Karoo Renewable Energy (Pty) Ltd.

Proposed Activity: Establishment of the Merino Wind Farm with a contracted capacity of up to 140MW.  The project is planned as part of a larger cluster of renewable energy projects.  The connection point to the national grid will be the existing Eskom Gamma Substation.  Infrastructure associated with the project includes:

• Wind turbines.
• Concrete turbine foundations & turbine hardstands.
• Inverters & transformers.
• Temporary laydown areas which will accommodate storage & assembly areas.
• Cabling between the turbines, to be laid underground where practical.
• A temporary concrete batching plant.
• 33/132kV onsite facility substation.
• Underground cabling from the onsite substation to the collector substation.
• Electrical & auxiliary equipment required at the collector substation that serves that wind energy facility, including switchyard/bay, control building, fences, etc.
• Battery Energy Storage System (BESS).
• Access roads & internal distribution roads.
• Site offices & maintenance buildings, including workshop areas for maintenance & storage.

Project Location: The Merino Wind Farm is located approximately 35km South-West of Richmond along the N1 and approximately 80km South-East of Victoria West along the R63 in the Northern Cape Province, within the Ubuntu Local Municipality, and within the greater Pixley Ka Seme District Municipality.

The development area consists of four (4) affected properties, which include:

• Portion 1 of Farm Rondavel 85
• Portion 0 of Farm Rondavel 85
• Portion 9 of Farm Bult & Rietfontein 96
• Portion 0 of Farm Vogelstruisfontein 84

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Process:  In terms of Sections 24 and 24D of the National Environmental Management Act (No 107 of 1998), as read with the EIA Regulations (2014), as amended on 07 April 2017, of GN R324 to GN R327, a Scoping and EIA is required to be undertaken for the proposed project.  The Scoping Report was accepted in January 2022 and the application subsequently lapsed.  The Applicant has resubmitted the application to continue at the initiation of the Environmental Impact Assessment Phase, in accordance with Regulation 21(2)(a) of the EIA Regulations 2014, as amended, since the findings of the scoping report remain valid and the environmental context has not changed.

Revised EIA Report available for review & comment:  The 30-day review & comment period of the EIA Report is from Friday, 11 November 2022 until Monday, 12 December 2022.  The last day to submit written comments is Monday, 12 December 2022.

To obtain further information & register on the project database, please submit your name, contact information & interest in the project to the contact person below.

Nicolene Venter at Savannah Environmental
P.O. Box 148, Sunninghill, 2157
Tel: 011 656 3237
Fax: 086 684 0547
Mobile: 060 978 8396 (including please call me)
Email: publicprocess@savannahsa.com

Documents for public review are available for download.

Please click on the “Register Interest” button to obtain the Registration Code to access the project’s documents under the “View Download Page.”