EIA for Al Tafila wind farm

Environmental Impact assessment Tafila Wind Farm

Tafila – Kingdom of Jordan

By: Mohammed Akram Herzallah.

2014-2015

Objectives of the project

• The project cover 3% of the national electricity demand (to produce 117 MW electricity in Jordan ).

• Growing business opportunities in the region.

• The project will contribute to Jordan's development objective in the energy sector aiming to increase both electricity production and the share of renewable energy in its electricity generation portfolio.

• Reduce energy import dependency.

• Reinforce reliability of supply and energy security.

• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Objectives of the project

BENEFICIARIES

• End users of housing units, commercial and

• industrial facilities.

• Local residents (job creation).

• Local farmers and livestock owners (improved access & infrastructure).

Description of the project

Description of the project

IFI : International financial institutions

• Region : Middle East

• Company name (promoter) : JORDAN WIND PROJECT COMPANY PSC

• Country : Jordan

DURATION

• Total Design/Build Phase: 21 months

• Operations Phase: 20 years

• Last Updated Date: January 18, 2013

TOTAL COST

• €209 million (100% funded through private investment and loans provided by IFIs.)

ACTIONS

• Construction of a wind farm in the Tafila Governorate (38 turbines with a total capacity of 117 MW).

• Installation of an internal collection system connecting the turbines to the transformer substation and to the high voltage transmission network.

• Civil works for access roads and transformer station.

• Provision of installation equipment and transportation of turbines.

Environmental Impact Evaluation

EIV = RI * ECV

RI: Resulting Impact

RI = D*Ce*(A&S + E + In + P + Rv + Pr)

ECV : environmental components value ECV Relative relevance

0 NULL

1-3 LOW

4-6 Moderate

7-8 High

9-9 Very High

EIV ENVIRONMENTAL

IMPACT

IMPORTANCE

- 301 TO 2100 Negative

signicative

-1 TO -300 Negative

Non signicative

>0 Positive

Evaluation of impacts

Attribute Definition Description

Denotation (D) Indicates if the impact is positive or negative

Positive Impact (+1)Negative Impact (-1)

Certainty (Ce) Indicates the probability ofoccurrence of the impact

Certain (10)Very likely (7)Likely (4)Unlikely (1)

Accumulationand synergy(A&S)

Indicates if the impact is simple,acculative or synergic

Simple (1)Cummulative (3)Synergic (6)

Criteria for the evaluation of Impacts .

Evaluation of impacts

Attribute Definition Description

Extension (E) Defines the magnitud of the areaaffected by the impact (surface where the impact is felt)

Puntual (1)Partial (2)Extense (3)

Intensity (In) Indicates the incidence degreeover the environmental component in the area where the impact is produced

Low (1)Medium (4)High (5)Very high (6)Total (10)

Persistence (P) Indicates the persistence of theimpact

Fleeting (1)Temporal (2)Permanent (4)

Criteria for the evaluation of Impacts .

Evaluation of impacts

Attribute Definition Description

Reversibility(Rv)

Indicates if the impactedcomponent has the capacity toreturn to their original state

Short term (1)Medium term (2)Long term (3)Irreversible (4)

Periodicity (Pr) Indicates the periodicity of theimpact

Discontinuous (1)Periodic (2)Continuous (4)

Criteria for the evaluation of Impacts .

Prediction and assessment of environmental impacts and risks

Environmental Component

Code Impact

Air quality A1 Increase in the emission of particulatematerial and gasses to the atmosphere

Geomorphology Geo1 Modification of topography

Hydrology Hy1 Alteration of runoff in Chañaral ravine

Soils S1 Loss of soil

Noise No1 Modification of basal noise pressure

• Potential impacts identified – Physical aspects

Prediction and assessment of environmental impacts and risks

Environmental Component

Code Impact

Floraandvegetation

FV1 Loss of vegetational formations and floraassociated

Fauna Fau1Fau2

Perturbation to environmentsCollision of birds

• Potential impacts identified – Biotic aspects

Prediction and assessment of environmental impacts and risks

Environmental Component

Code Impact

Socioeconomic SE1SE2

Increase of employmentDecrease of touristic activity due to effect on marine mammals

Basicsocialwell-being

BSWB1

BSWB2

BSWB3

- Improvement in road infraestructure- Transfer delays due to alterations in local traffic- Energy generation with low emissions ofgreenhouse gasses

Landscape Lan1 Alteration of the landscape quality andtouristic value

• Potential impacts identified – Human aspects

The EIA results Impact Construction phase Operation phase Closure phase

A1 -252 -56 -252

Hy1 -63

Geo1 -240

S1 -252

No1 -56 -128 -56

FV1 -900

Fau1 -900 -756

Fau2 -684

SE1 +780

SE2 -72

BSWB1 +960 -147 -72

BSWB2 -196 -196

BSWB3 +1820

Lan1 -200 -260

Conclusion

• The Tafila wind farm will contribute significantly to the goal of using the renewable energy in GENERAL , with each turbin providing power for more than 2,500 Jordanian households . These households will benefit not only from the stable price of the energy produced by these turbines , but also from the reduction of GHG emissions that is caused by using power from this wind farm insted of fossil-fuel burning power plants .

References

• http://www.inframed.com/investments/11/Tafila_Wind_Farm_%E2%80%9CTafila%E2%80%9D_.html

• http://ufmsecretariat.org/tafila-wind-farms/

• http://ifcext.ifc.org/ifcext/spiwebsite1.nsf/651aeb16abd09c1f8525797d006976ba/888a87e4e02ad60985257af700703021?opendocument