Glencore Eastern Mines Solar PV EIA: EIA Phase

What

Glencore Operations South Africa (Proprietary) Limited (“Glencore”) intends to develop a photovoltaic (“PV”) solar facility, including battery storage, at Glencore Eastern Mines located approximately 26 kilometres (“km”) south of Steelpoort and 34 km north-west of Lydenburg in the Limpopo Province of South Africa.

Where

The project is proposed directly east of Glencore Thorncliffe mine on portions 7 and 8 of the farm Thorncliffe 374 KT and a portion of portion 3 of the farm De Grooteboom 373 KT. The site is situated in Ward 27 of the Fetakgomo Tubatse Local Municipality (“FTLM”), within the Sekhukhune District Municipality (“SKM”).

Approximate coordinates for the centre of the site are: Lat: -24.970288°; Long: 30.132833°.

Description

Glencore proposes the development of a 70 MW solar PV plant with associated infrastructure over an area of approximately 83 ha.



The proposed facility will include the following infrastructure:
- Security and fencing
- Weather and irradiation stations
- PV panels, arrays and interconnection
- Power line connection (33 kV)
- On-site substation / switching station
- On-site battery storage facilities
- Offices, engineering facility and training facility
- Access and internal roads
- Road crossings over drainage lines
- S̵tormwater management infrastructure
- Abstraction of groundwater for water supply purposes
- Water treatment plant upgrade and water storage facilities.