These exclusions allow for the development of battery storage and solar PV facilities in areas of confirmed low and medium environmental sensitivity without requiring an environmental impact assessment, which would otherwise be needed to obtain Environmental Authorisation under the EIA Regulations of NEMA.
The purpose of these new environmental instruments (Battery Storage and PV Norms) is to reduce red tape hindering development by enabling the speedy rollout of new renewable energy generation while ensuring environmental protection.
Earlier this month, Colleen McCreadie and Lauren Elston from the Environmental Practice (Enviroprac) attended an informative event hosted by the South African Affiliate of the International Association of Impact Assessment (IAIAsa) on “Explaining the Battery Storage and PV Norms”. Industry experts, including Environmental Assessment Practitioners, Specialists, the South African Heritage Resources Agency, Birdlife SA, and the National Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and Environment, provided insights into the expectations and implementation of the new exclusion norms and necessary registration process. Key take-away messages from the event are:
1. Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and PV Facilities can be excluded from obtaining Environmental Authorisation under NEMA if specialists in five themes (agriculture, plant species, animal species, terrestrial biodiversity, and aquatic biodiversity) confirm that the sites of the BESS/PV projects have low or medium sensitivity. Confirmation of site sensitivity must be conducted by specialists, not Environmental Assessment Practitioners (EAPs).
2. Grid infrastructure (electricity transmission lines and substations) that are integral to a PV facility project should be included in the PV facility registration, following the requirements of the PV Norm, even if the grid infrastructure is located in areas with higher sensitivity than low or medium sensitivity, as long as the norm requirements are met.
3. A Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) does not need to go through a separate registration process according to the requirements of the Battery Storage Norm. Instead, it can be included as an associated infrastructure component of a Photovoltaic (PV) facility and registered under the PV Norm.
4. If a PV project (including associated infrastructure) meets the criteria for registration under the PV Norm (i.e., when Listing Notice 1 Activity 1 or 36, and/or Listing Notice 2 Activity 1 in the EIA Regulations are triggered), all “listed activities” necessary for the realisation of the PV project also qualify for registration and do not require Environmental Authorisation. However, the Battery Storage Norm specifies certain activities in the EIA Regulations that are excluded from the requirement to obtain Environmental Authorisation, any other “listed activities” not specified in the Norm would still need Environmental Authorisation.
5. If Eskom takes over the construction and/or operational management of the grid infrastructure components, a simplified re-registration form (instead of the entire registration process) can be submitted for Eskom to receive their own registration confirmation. It is essential that Eskom commits to implementing the Environmental Management Programme Report (EMPr) which was part of the original registration process.
6. Compliance with the requirements of the National Heritage Resources Act (NHRA) is still necessary even if a project qualifies for registration and does not require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process. Therefore, a Heritage Impact Assessment and public participation in accordance with the NHRA may still be required. It is important to carefully consider Section 38 of NHRA and how to integrate the heritage approval process with the registration process outlined in these Norms.
7. The requirements for public participation are significantly less strict than those outlined in the EIA Regulations. There are no specific timeframes, newspaper advertisements, or site notices required. It is not even necessary to obtain comments from the Competent Authority during the registration process.
8. The Competent Authority for the registration process does not review or approve Environmental Management Programme Reports (EMPrs) or the Site Sensitivity Verification Report, which are two key components of the BESS or PV project registration process.
9. It is important to note that a registration cannot be rejected.
10. The role of the Competent Authority is to ensure that all necessary documents are submitted before issuing the registration number. The responsibility primarily falls on the Environmental Consultant and specialist to make ethically sound decisions and report accurately.
Enviroprac is well-equipped to manage the registration process for you. Please feel free to contact us directly for more information and visit our website and LinkedIn pages:
Colleen McCreadie | 021 788 9323 | 083 695 1664 | colleen@enviroprac.co.za or
Lauren Elston | 021 788 9323 | 071 992 2341 | lauren@enviroprac.co.za
