Proposed development of a solar PV plant and Battery energy storage system (BESS) to be located on Impala Platinum’s Rustenburg operation site

The Applicant, Impala Platinum Holding Limited, propose the development of a Solar Energy Facility and associated infrastructure, to be known as Impala Platinum Solar Energy Facility. The Solar Energy Facility with a contracted capacity of up to 140MWac will be located ~14km north west of Rustenburg on Portion 114 of the Farm Goedgecacht 114 JQ, within the Rustenburg Local Municipality and Bojanala District Municipality in the North West Province. Infrastructure associated with Impala Platinum Solar Energy Facility will include the following: - Solar PV array comprising bifacial PV modules and mounting structures, using single axis tracking technology. Once installed will stand up to 2.1m above ground level. - Inverters and transformers. - Cabling between the project components. - Balance of Plant. - On-site facility substation to facilitate the connection between the solar PV facility and Eskom electricity grid. The Size and Capacity of the on-site stations will be 33kV. - An onsite medium voltage (MV) switching station. - Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) with a size of 140MWh. - Temporary Laydown areas. - Access roads, internal roads and fencing around the development area. - Up to 33kV Overhead Power Lines (OHPL) - up to 10m height with a 15m servitude width. - Underground LV cabling will be used on the PV site. Site 3C is the preferred site and Implats is already in the process of securing the site for the development. The Millenium substation (most likely point of integration) is adjacent to the northern border of site 3C which is the likely point of integration. Both the 66kV Eskom supply and 33kV Implats network are connected.