NEWS RELEASE                                                                                                     12 June 2002

CITY OF CAPE TOWN CONCERNED ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF PROPOSED ESKOM WIND ENERGY EXPERIMENT

The City of Cape Town has come out strongly in support of the proposed Eskom Wind Energy Demonstration Facility in Cape Town, but has called on consultants appointed by Eskom to answer the City’s concerns about flaws in the environmental approval process.

Councillor Brian Watkyns, Executive Councillor for Planning and Environment, said he was in favour of environmentally clean energy, and would give his full support and commitment to the project, but questioned the fact that the consultants had failed to answer the issues raised by the City’s environmental experts.

“Energy from wind is being widely used in Europe after an extensive period of testing, and I totally support it in principle. However, we have raised concerns about the environmental impact procedure being followed in Eskom’s application to the Province for environmental approval,” Councillor Watkyns said.

His views are shared by City of Cape Town Executive Committee member responsible for Trading Services, Councillor David Erleigh, who said all forms of alternative energy were worthy of investigation.“At the same time, we must learn to curb our wastage of energy if we are to have an affordable and sustainable source of electrical power,” he said.

Eskom is proposing to install six to eight wind turbines, either at Klipheuwel near Malmesbury or at Oliphantskop near Melkbos, for a period of three years. Thereafter Eskom proposes to dismantle the facility, relocate it or keep it as a permanent fixture on the site.

“Because Eskom’s consultants haven’t answered our concerns, we are unable to support their draft environmental impact report at this stage,” said Councillor Watkyns.

The City has called on the consultants to revise their environmental impact report and resubmit it for comment by the public and all other stakeholders, including the City of Cape Town, before proceeding with the later stages of the full environmental impact assessment.

Councillor Watkyns said the City would want to be consulted on the preferred site at that stage. Concerns include the necessity for an integrated resource plan required by the National Electricity Regulator as set out in the White Paper on Energy Policy; possible flaws in the sequencing of technical tests, authorisations and site selection; and the need for authorisations for electrical connections to the national grid.

Councillor Watkyns also said Eskom should work with the National Wind Energy Demonstration Project at Darling to gain knowledge and avoid cost duplication. “There are other contradictions in the report, and also aspects that do not make practical financial sense,” he said. “We want the consultants’ responses to our concerns to be made in a transparent and independent manner so that we all understand the issues and likely impacts of the experiment.”

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