Construction World March 2015

Power Africa and its contractors during the construction phase”. Roods goes on to state, “ACWA Power are achieving a monthly compliance of above 90% which is highly commendable considering the remote loca- tion of the site”. Julies states, “ACWA Power Africa Holdings has a strong commitment to the environment with our zero harm policy in terms of Health, Safety and the Environ- mental compliance on all our facilities. External audits are carried out on all our facilities in compliance with World Bank IFC guidelines and standards, ensuring interna- tional compliance”. During the construction phase of Bokpoort ACWA Power has allocated R5-mil- lion into local community development projects for the. Kheis Municipality. This includes business skills development; the provision of solar lighting system; a water reticulation project; and the upgrading of the high school computer laboratory including the provision of internet access. Julies says, “As part of our social responsibility programme we recently donated 100 indig- enous trees to schools and the community in the area. In addition to this ACWA Power has established an aloe nursery as part of a relo- cation programme for those aloes that have been removed from the project site. Royal HaskoningDHV, leaders in Environ- mental Services, carried out the first 100 MW solar EIA in the country for Eskom, in which they assessed three farms in the Northern Cape with Bokpoort being one of them. The company, in conjunction with Solafrica was also the first to undertake a water use license for a development of this nature, during which wet cooling was authorised by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS). Going forward however, dry cooling is seen by the DWS as the preferred method of cooling as it is less water intensive, and is in line with their water saving initiatives. ACWA Power ACWA Power Africa Holdings is a divi- sion of ACWA Power International which is a lead developer, owner and operator of independent water and power projects structured on a conces- sion or utility outsourcing contract model. ACWA Power International has also developed and will operate a 160 MW sister solar power plant to Bokpoort, in Morocco and are in the process of constructing a 300 MW coal fired power plant in Mozambique.

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

SOLAR PLANT AUDIT ACWA Power Solafrica’s new Bokpoort Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plant is not only being built to harness solar power to supply into Eskom’s

for a large enough area; as well as that the maximum capacity together with all rele- vant EIA listed activities are applied for”. This allows for phased development should it be opted, like with the Bokpoort devel- opment where another 25 MW generating capacity can be added at a later stage. Having as much detailed engineering information as possible is crucial to inform the EIA process. He goes on to say that it is also important to listen to local knowledge. The EIA took just 11 months, with the recent basic assess- ment process taking only four months. Roods believes that these good timeframes was only achieved with the help of the National Department of Environmental Affairs who assisted in achieving a much faster turn- around time, and that they should be commended. It is also important to involve all the relevant and affected stakeholders during the public participation process, like in this case Transnet, Eskom, etc. Elton Julies, HSEQ Manager ACWA Power Africa Holdings, states, “Bokpoort is different from other solar projects in that we can generate electricity from the solar power system during the night. We have 9,3 hours of storage capacity suitable for base load generation. “The heat from the huge salt storage tanks is used to generate electricity for up to 9,3 hours during the night”. Challenges Some of the project challenges include a 25 km dirt road to the site that is subject to increased traffic volumes during construc- tion. By far the greatest challenge is waste management, both hazardous and general waste during construction, exacerbated by the fact that site location is very remote and considering that the Northern Cape has very limited licensed waste sites. Acting as environmental control officer for the project, Roods, states, “The main purpose of the monthly compliance audits is to ensure that all relevant environmental conditions prescribed in the project Environ- mental Authorisations (EA) and approved Environmental Management Plan (EMP) & Programmes (EMPRs) have been appropri- ately and adequately considered by ACWA

grid to assist in alleviating the country’s power crisis, but will also satisfy one of the National Development Plan’s most crucial agendas – job creation in an area that sorely needs it.

Royal HaskoningDHV was appoin- ted in 2010 to carry out the Envi- ronmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the R5-billion ACWA Power

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Solafrica Bokpoort Concentrated Solar Power Plant situated at Bokpoort, which is 25 km north of Groblershoop in the Northern Cape. In addition to this, Royal Haskon- ingDHV was also appointed to carry out two Basic Assessment Processes for the water supply pipeline from the Orange River. The position of the first abstraction point was deemed to be unsuitable due to the Orange River’s flood patterns necessi- tating the design of a second abstraction point, as well as 3 km pipeline extension. In 2013 Royal HaskoningDHV was appointed as the Environmental Control Officer (ECO) at the start of project construction which culminates in December 2015. The approved EIA is for a 75 MW CSP Power Plant and currently a 50 MW plant is being constructed utilising parabolic trough technology which is the more suitable CSP technology option for the environment, especially avifauna. Malcolm Roods, market segment leader, environmental services at Royal Haskon- ingDHV states, “When applying for an EIA it is important to ensure that the application is

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD MARCH 2015