Heritage Cases

The Applicant Brandvalley Wind Farm (RF) (Pty) Ltd wishes to undertake two amendments to the authorised 140MW Brandvalley Wind Energy Facility, which is located north of the Town Matjiesfontein within the Karoo Hoogland, Karoo, Witzenberg and Laingsburg Local Municipalities in the Western and Northern Cape Province. The WEF has been authorised by the Competent Authority, namely the National Department of Environmental Affairs in the Environmental Authorisation (EA) and subsequent EA Amendments as follows:  DFFE Ref: 14/12/16/3/3/1/900/AM1 Dated: 14 February 2019  DFFE Ref: 14/12/16/3/3/2/900/AM2 Dated: 11 October 2021  DFFE Ref: 14/12/16/3/3/2/900/AM3 Dated: 23 August 2022  DFFE Ref: 14/12/16/3/3/2/900/AM4 (withdrawn) Dated: 25 January 2023 The WEF was awarded Preferred Bidder Status under Round 5 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (herein referred to as the REIPPPP) and subsequently has reached Financial Close and is thus under construction. Terramanzi Group (Pty) Ltd (hereinafter referred to as TMG), has been appointed by the Applicant as the Independent Environmental Assessment Practitioner (EAP) to conduct the required Environmental Permitting Process in terms of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act 107 of 1998) (as amended) (hereinafter referred to as the NEMA) and the NEMA Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations (2014, as amended). In light of the above information the Applicant was required to undertake a Part 2 Amendment Application Process in terms of GN R. 982 (section 31), 983, 984 and 985 of the NEMA EIA Regulations (2014, as amended). The following amendments have been applied for: Non-Substantive Amendments:  The Amendment being applied for is of an administrative nature in order to update the name and details of the relevant contact details of the Holder of the EA to ensure that the information contained in the EA is up to date and accurate. Substantive Amendments:  The Applicant Brandvalley Wind Farm (RF) (Pty) Ltd requests minor realignments of road sections B2, B11, and B16 where there are technical challenges. o The reason for this amendment is to confirm the final road alignment for the Brandvalley Wind Energy Facility (WEF) To confirm the context of this Part 2 Application, the original approval for the WEF included 58 Wind Turbine Generators (WTGs) and associated roads and infrastructure, this has been reduced to 32 WTGs (within the approved AM3), resulting in a significant decrease in the development footprint. During the engineering final layout design, post the approval of AM3, it became evident that certain portions of roads, were not buildable due to slope and other engineering constraints, thus required a re-alignment. This re-alignment is now presented in this Part 2 AM. . o We have reviewed the final road alignment of the Brandvalley WEF and consider the changes minor and insignificant, with the only areas around sections B2 and B16 requiring additional comment. This will be provided as part of this Amendment Motivation Report. Additionally, section B11 will have a portion of the ring road dropped as this is no longer required by the Applicant. These changes will accomplish a decrease in the overall impacts on the environment, especially from a Terrestrial Ecology and Biodiversity point of view. o As noted above, construction for the BID awarded Project is underway on the remainder of the site due to BID timing requirements. However, the above portions of the road build will only be completed once this amendment application process has been processed by the Competent Authority, which is of the utmost urgency. Summary of What the Amendment Motivation Report Entails and Details:  Details of the Environmental Assessment Practitioner (EAP);  Location of the authorised activity and proposed amendments;  Plan which locates the activity as authorised and activities applied for at an appropriate scale;  Description of the authorised activity and amendments applied for;  Assessment of all impacts related to the proposed amendments;  The need and desirability for the project;  Description of the public consultation process followed;  An Environmental Impact Assessment;  An Environmental Management Programme (EMPr); and  Undertakings under oath or affirmation by the Environmental Assessment Practitioner (EAP) Public Participation Process (PPP) for the Amendment Motivation Report As per the requirements of the NEMA EIA Regulations (2014, as amended) GNR 982, the Draft Amendment Motivation Report for Comment was released to relevant Stakeholders in terms of GNR 982, Regulation 41(2) (a)(b)(c)(d) in order to inform them of this proposed amendment to the Environmental Authorisation for the Brandvalley WEF located in the Western Cape and Northern Cape Province. The 30-day Public Participation Process (PPP) commenced on 06 March 2023 and concludes on 05 April 2023. All comments received during the public consultation processes will be recorded and addressed in the Comments and Response Report which will be attached and submitted with the Final Amendment Motivation Report to the National Department of Forestry Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) for Decision.