PART 2 AMENDMENT: THE PROPOSED SONNEBLOM PHOTOVOLTAIC ENERGY FACILITY NEAR BLOEMFONTEIN IN THE FREE STATE PROVINCE

The holder of the Environmental Authorisation (EA) of the Sonneblom SPP is proposing amendments to the EA which mainly involves changes to the facility layout which was approved as part of the EA. The amendments are related to the relocation and resizing of project specific infrastructure associated with the layout within the assessed and authorised project area.
The holder of the EA intends to commence with construction in February 2023 and therefore requires these changes to the layout to be considered and confirmed prior so that the necessary layout changes as reflected accordingly and can be implemented.
Environamics has been appointed as the independent consultant to undertake the Part 2 amendment process on Sonneblom SPP’s behalf. This Motivational report is compiled in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 32 (1) of the EIA Regulations 2014, (as amended).
As part of this Part 2 Amendment Process specialist input was sought from suitably qualified independent specialists to provide an indication of what the implications will be in terms of environmental impact associated with the proposed amendments, as well as provide an indication of whether the mitigation measures included in the EMPr will be sufficient for the impacts associated with the updated layout. The assessment determined that the potential negative impacts resulting from the proposed layout are not significant and that it doesn’t increase the significance ratings determined as part of the EIA process. The proposed layout has been refined an optimised from a technical perspective, as well as an environmental perspective.