Mechanical Technology March 2015

Mechanical Technology — March 2015

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Power, energy and energy management

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oyal HaskoningDHV was

appointed in 2010 to carry

out the environmental im-

pact assessment (EIA) for

the R5‑billion ACWA Power Solafrica

Bokpoort Concentrated Solar Power Plant

to be situated at Bokpoort, 25 km north

of Groblershoop in the Northern Cape.

Royal HaskoningDHV was also ap-

pointed to carry out two basic assessment

processes for the water supply pipeline

from the Orange River. The position of

the first extraction point was deemed to

be unsuitable due to the Orange River’s

flood patterns and this necessitated the

selection of a second extraction point and

a 3.0 km pipeline extension. In 2013,

Royal HaskoningDHV was appointed as

the environmental control officer (ECO)

at the start of project construction, a pro-

cess that concludes in December 2015.

The approved EIA is for a 75 MW

CSP 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 (bird-

life). Malcolm Roods, market segment

CSP parabolic trough technology is the more suitable CSP

technology option for the environment, especially avifauna.

The Bokpoort CSP plant is suitable for base load generation because huge molten salt storage tanks are

used to generate electricity for up to 9.3 hours during the night.

The ACWA Power Solafrica’s new Bokpoort

Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Plant is

being built to supply renewable solar

energy into Eskom’s grid to alleviate

the country’s power crisis. At the same

time, it will satisfy one of the National

Development Plan’s most crucial agendas:

job creation in impoverished areas.

EIAs and the R5-billion Bokpoort CSP plant

leader, environmental services at Royal

HaskoningDHV says when applying for

an EIA it is important to ensure that the

application is for a large enough area;

and that the maximum capacity, together

with all relevant EIA listed activities, are

applied for. “This allows for phased de-

velopment should it be adopted, as with

the Bokpoort development where another

25 MW generating capacity could be

added at a later stage”.

He adds that it is crucial to have as

much detailed engineering information

as possible when conducting the EIA

process. “It is also important to listen to

local knowledge,” he advises, adding that

the environmental assessment took 11

months to complete while the basic as-

sessment process took only four months.

Roods believes that these good

timeframes were only achieved with

the help of the National Department of

Environmental Affairs, which assisted in

achieving a much faster turnaround time,

and that they should be commended

for this.

“It is also important to involve all the

relevant and affected stakeholders during

the public participation process: Transnet

and Eskom, among others.”

Elton Julies, HSEQ manager ACWA

Power Africa Holdings, says, “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 at night.”

Some of the project challenges include

a 25 km dirt road to the site, which

is subject to increased traffic volumes

during construction. By far the greatest

challenge is waste management during

construction – both hazardous and gen-

eral waste – which is exacerbated by the

remoteness of the site and the limited

number of licensed waste sites in the

Northern Cape.

Acting as environmental control of-

ficer for the project, Roods, says, “The

main purpose of the monthly compli-

ance audits is to ensure that all relevant

environmental conditions prescribed