| Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005. |
Overberg wind farm proposal
Credit: John Yeld, ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE WRITER | Cape Argus | www.iol.co.za 21 August 2012 ~~
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Translate: FROM English | TO English
A wind arm consisting of up to 30 turbines that could each be 200m high has been proposed for the mountain slopes of the Overberg, off the R317 between Bonnievale and the N2 near Riviersonderend.
Each turbine will have a capacity of between two and three megawatts (MW), and the project – the Brakkefontein Wind Energy Project proposed for two cattle farms totalling 1 700 hectares – will help supply the Western Cape with electricity if one of Koeberg’s two generating units goes down, says the Grahamstown-based developer, Terra Power Solutions.
But the owners of one of the immediate neighbours, Melozhori Game Reserve, are horrified at the prospect that they say will devastate the environment and and have a severely adverse effect on their viability.
”… the sustainability of Melozhori and that of surrounding game farms and eco-tourism businesses is at stake here,” Melozhori managing director Ismail Bhorat said.
A draft scoping report on the project was published this month. Scoping is the first phase of an environmental impact assessment and is only aimed at identifying potential impacts. If these are deemed likely to be severe, they must be subject to specialised in-depth investigation.
One key question not answered in the scoping report is which authority will have the final say on the project.
The national Environmental Affairs Department insists it had decision-making powers, while the Western Cape’s Environment and Planning Department says it became the competent authority for wind farms in the province on January 19 this year, except when Eskom is the applicant.
l For further information, contact Coastal & Environmental Services: 046 622 2364/7, or e-mail Info@cesnet.co.za
This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.
The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.
| Wind Watch relies entirely on User Funding |
 (via Stripe) |
 (via Paypal) |
Share:
[ Short URL: https://wind-watch.org/news/?p=27177 ]
