On 19 August, The Green Connection and others made their oral presentations at the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa) public hearings regarding the Karpowership SA electricity generation application.
Members of the small-scale fishing communities in Port St Johns.
Opposition to the use of three floating power plants (powerships) that form part of government’s Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPP) has reached Knysna’s shores, with local fishermen adding their voices to the fray.
The furore started in March after the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, announced that eight bidders had been selected for the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPP), intended to reduce SA’s reliance on expensive peaking plants and to fill the short-term electricity supply gap.
These proposals included the placing of three gas to power powerships, or floating power plants (FPPs), from the Turkish company Karpowership, in Saldanha Bay (Western Cape), Ngqura (Eastern Cape), and Richard’s Bay (KwaZulu-Natal).
The Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment (DFFE) refused environmental authorisation for the FPPs, which is being appealed by Karpowership SA and others.
On 16 August, environmental watchdog The Green Connection submitted its response to the appeal against this refusal, commending the DFFE and urging the Minister of Forestry and Fisheries and Environmental Affairs, Barbara Creecy, to uphold her department’s refusal decision.
On 19 August, The Green Connection and others made their oral presentations at the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa) public hearings regarding the Karpowership SA electricity generation application.
According to The Green Connection’s strategic lead, Liziwe McDaid, the organisation objects to the FPPs not only because of their potentially devastating impact on the marine environment and on the livelihoods of local coastal communities, but also because it believes the electricity generation licence process is fatally flawed.
“The implications of Eskom having to sign a long-term (20-year) PPA, coupled with the implications of Nersa granting such a long-term generation licence, are two of the major sticking points with the Karpowership SA proposal,” he said.
Impact studies ‘flawed’
The Green Connection’s community outreach coordinator Neville van Rooy said the noise studies have been critically analysed by an expert and found not to be credible or independent and not a sound basis for decision-making.
“The initial recommendations of the Marine Ecology Specialist Study and Specialist Study on Noise Impacts, presented for public comment on the Draft EIA report, was not based on modelling of sound that would be produced by Karpowership SA’s vessels in the South African ports where they are intended to be located,” he said.
“Additional evidence on underwater noise was introduced for the first time in the final EIA report, at which point the public was not afforded the right to comment, and as such was deprived of the right to controvert such evidence. The Green Connection has now submitted its comments (a 320-page document) on Karpowership SA’s appeal. In our view, Karpower failed to undertake a meaningful underwater noise impact study, which is critical to understanding the cumulative impacts on the Saldanha marine environments.
“Since small-scale fishers in the area depend on fish (including juvenile fish) for their livelihoods, it is particularly important for them to understand these impacts and make their inputs to the decision-making process.”
He said they are extremely concerned that the FPP project could undermine other important local economic sectors, such as small-scale fishing and aquaculture, that are important contributors to the local economy. The Green Connection also believes that there are several renewable energy options that could fill the short-term electricity generation gap – with less greenhouse gas emissions than the power ships, more local opportunities, and which do not harm the fragile marine environment.
“As we understand it, Karpowership SA has said that the reason they cannot measure the impacts of underwater noise and vibrations resulting from the operation of the gas turbines on the powerships, is because there are no powerships in the bay. Yet, affected fishing communities need to know if the noise will chase their fish away. Our ocean is too precious and our small-scale fishers too valuable for us to be satisfied with this ‘wait-and-see-what-happens’ approach.”
Local voices
According to a press release issued by the Green Connection, small-scale fishers from the West Coast and other stakeholders are also sending responses to the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environmental Affairs.
Barend Fredericks, a small-scale fisher from the Bigai Knysna Community, welcomes the government’s decision. “These ships are intended to be anchored in our ports for 20 years,” he says.
“That is 20 years of noise and potential environmental disasters that will not only affect our fish stocks but could threaten endangered species like the seahorse. So, we call on the government to seriously consider using renewable energy sources instead of the powership option.”
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