APPLICATIONS FOR AMENDMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORISATIONS: NOTIFICATION OF SUBMISSION OF FINAL AMENDMENT ASSESSMENT REPORTS

(Highlands North WEF DFFE Ref No.: 14/12/16/3/3/1/1955/AM1);

(Highlands Central WEF DFFE Ref No.: 14/12/16/3/3/1/1958/ AM1);

(Highlands South WEF DFFE Ref No.: 14/12/16/3/3/1/1960/AM1)

Highlands North Wind Energy Facility RF (Pty) Ltd, Highlands Central Wind Energy Facility RF (Pty) Ltd and Highlands South Wind Energy Facility RF (Pty) Ltd (i.e. the Applicants) are applying for an amendment of the Environmental Authorisations (EAs) in terms of the National Environmental Management Act (No. 107 of 1998) (NEMA) Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations (2014), as amended, for the authorised Highlands North Wind Energy Facility (WEF), Highlands Central WEF and Highlands South WEF respectively, and their associated infrastructure, situated approximately 20km west of Somerset East in the Eastern Cape Province.

Projects for which Environmental Authorisations (EAs) have been granted: Environmental Authorisations (EAs) for the Highlands North, Central and South WEFs were granted by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) (now known as the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE)) on 4 February 2020, 25 January 2020, and 21 January 2020, respectively, for the following Listed Activities: Items 11, 12, 19, 24, 27, 28, 48 & 56 of GN R.983, as amended; Items 1 and 6 of GN R.984, as amended; and Items 4, 10, 12, 14, 18 and 23 of GN R. 985, as amended, published in terms of the NEMA 2014 EIA Regulations, as amended. The authorised WEFs comprise the following, amongst others: 84 MW Highlands North WEF with up to 14 turbines; 72 MW Highlands Central WEF with up to 12 turbines, and 90 MW Highlands South WEF with up to 15 turbines.

Applications for Amendment of the EAs in terms of Part 2 of Chapter 5 of the EIA Regulations (2014), as amended:

An Application for Amendment of the EA has been submitted to DFFE for each WEF in terms of Part 2 of Chapter 5 of the NEMA EIA Regulations, 2014, as amended, including the following proposed amendments:

  • Highlands North WEF: Amendments to the project description (amendments to turbine specifications (increase in size of turbines), a reduction in the number of turbines, slight increase in overall generation capacity of the WEF, removing the specified generation capacity for individual turbines, and addition of a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS)); amendment to the preliminary layout; and Removal of Condition 39 of the EA.
  • Highlands Central WEF: Amendments to the project description (amendments to turbine specifications (increase in size of turbines), a reduction in the number of turbines, removing the specified generation capacity for individual turbines, and addition of a BESS); amendments to the preliminary layout, and correction of an editorial error in the EA.
  • Highlands South WEF: Amendments to the project description (including amendments to the turbine specifications (increase in size of turbines), a reduction in the number of turbines, removing the specified generation capacity for individual turbines, and addition of a BESS); Amendment to the preliminary layout; and Removal of Conditions 17.1 and 42 of the EA.

Holland & Associates Environmental Consultants has been appointed by the Applicants to undertake the Applications for Amendment of the EAs.

The Final Amendment Assessment Reports for the Highlands North WEF, Highlands Central WEF, and Highlands South WEF were submitted to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) on 24 March 2022 for decision making. Once the DFFE has issued their decisions on the three Amendment Applications, registered I&APs will be notified in writing of their decision.