Cape Town - In another blow for Karpowership SA, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) has issued a record of refusal on one of the applications for environmental authorisation (EA).
Karpowership SA had proposed to locate three powership projects at the ports of Richards Bay, Ngqura and Saldanha to generate electricity from natural gas to be sent through transmission lines to substations linked to the national grid.
Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy issued appeal decisions for all three projects in August last year and the EIA reports for all three projects were resubmitted on January 9 for decision-making.
In terms of its decision for the Port of Ngqura, DFFE said the application for EA was refused on March 7.
The application for the second project has been withdrawn by the Environmental Assessment Practitioner (EAP) and the third application has been suspended pending the outcome of an investigation into the environmental processes.
The DFFE said: “The withdrawal is based on an urgent application by the EAP for condonation to comply with regulatory timeframes in terms of Section 47C of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) submitted to Minister Creecy on February 24, 2023.
“This application is currently under consideration. On March 6, 2023 the competent authority received correspondence from ‘The Green Connection’ alleging suspected non-compliance with regulation 13 of the EIA regulations by the appointed EAP. As a result, the application has been suspended by the competent authority so that the veracity of the allegations can be probed. The decision on this application will be based on the outcome of the investigation.”
The Green Connection welcomed the DFFE’s decision.
“We are happy that the department is investigating our complaint and are confident that they will find in our favour,” it said.
“And while we are somewhat confused by the EAP’s decision to withdraw the application in Richards Bay, hopefully this signifies the end of the Karpowership saga.
Hopefully, now authorities can focus on bringing affordable and appropriate energy to the grid to address the load shedding.”
Karpowership SA said it would respond to questions on Monday.
Cape Times