rabai power ltd (kenya) - thermal power plant summary...

Summary Report – October 2007

Rabai Power Ltd (Kenya) - Thermal Power Plant

SUMMARY REPORT

Prepared for:

&

Prepared by:

Rabai Power Ltd Coastal & Environmental Services c/o Kaplan & Stratton,

Williamson House, 4th Ngong Avenue,

P.O. Box 40111-00100 Nairobi

9a Hampden Road Morningside

Durban, 4001

Kenya South Africa

OCTOBER 2007


Coastal & Environmental Services Rabai Power Ltd

i

This Report should be sited as follows: Coastal & Environmental Services, 2007: Rabai Power: Environmental & Social Impact Summary Report, CES, Durban, South Africa.

THE PROJECT TEAM Dr Roy Wadeson, CES, Durban Ms Jackie Rapson CES, Durban Mr Greg Huggins RADS, Durban Dr Georgina Jones RADS, Durban Dr Francois Malherbe François Malherbe Acoustic Consulting cc,

Pretoria Ms Renee Thomas Airshed Planning Professionals, Johannesburg


Coastal & Environmental Services Rabai Power Ltd

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Location of the study area................................................................................................. 1 1.3 Project operators, contractors and sponsors..................................................................... 2 1.4 Project schedule................................................................................................................ 3

2 CONSULTATION...................................................................................................................... 3 3 ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES ............................................................................................. 4

3.1 Summary of fuel type options............................................................................................ 4 3.2 Alternative locations .......................................................................................................... 4

4 CONSTRUCTION IMPACTS.................................................................................................... 4 5 OPERATIONAL IMPACTS....................................................................................................... 5 6 DECOMMISSIONING IMPACTS.............................................................................................. 7 7 SUMMARY OF IMPACTS ........................................................................................................ 8 8 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................... 10

8.1 Recommendations .......................................................................................................... 10 8.2 Rabai Power corporate social responsibility.................................................................... 11 8.3 Capacity building............................................................................................................. 11 8.4 Conclusions..................................................................................................................... 11


1

1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background Rabai Power Ltd has commissioned Coastal and Environmental Services to carry out an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the proposed installation of an 88.6MW power generation plant (using Medium Speed Diesel Generators) in Rabai, Kaloleni District, Kenya. This plant is to be situated next to the Kenya Power and Lighting Co. Limited (KPLC) Rabai sub-station. The proposed site is situated in a rural setting, and is designated in the district physical planning as an industrial and commercial zone. The power generation plant will be equipped with five (5) medium speed, four stroke, 18 cylinders diesel engines of the make Wärtsilä V46, each directly coupled to an 11kV generator. Furthermore, the Plant will consist of a waste heat recovery system and steam turbine generator set with a gross capacity of approximately 6.5MW. The engines along with the mechanical and electrical auxiliaries will be installed in a power house building of structural steel approximately 2000m2 in size, erected on concrete foundations and with the roof and the external walls made of insulated steel sheet cladding for noise reduction. The steam turbine and generator unit will be enclosed in a similar building. The plant will be operated on Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) but has the ability to be converted for operation on natural gas that may be considered in the future. Auxiliary systems are provided with HFO separators and exhaust boilers for treatment of the fuel, including fuel pumps for transfer of the fuel from the heavy fuel oil storage tanks to be erected in a tank farm within the station area (Figure 1 is an impression of the site). At the end of the useful life of the power station, in approximately 25 years, the plant may be decommissioned in accordance with legislative guidelines and technology current at that time, or the plant may be re-engineered and re-permitted if required. The key factors that determine when the plant is to be decommissioned are the economics of maintaining the plant to ensure that it remains safe to operate, compliance with environmental requirements and reliability, together with the cost of fuel. Decommissioning will therefore be reviewed on an annual basis once it is evident that the plant is nearing the end of its working life. 1.2 Location of the study area The site for the power generation plant is part of a (16ha) property owned by KPLC (Figure 2). It is proposed that the power plant will be located on a small portion of land (4ha) on the north eastern side of the property and the plant will feed power directly into the national grid via the Rabai sub-station where the equipment occupies the central and south eastern part of the property. The site is located within the Rabai township, Kaloleni District bordering Kwale District on the west, Mazeras town is located to the south, Ruruma and Mwawesa locations on the east with Mombasa City approximately 20km to the south east.


2

Figure 1: Artists Impression of Site layout

Figure 2: Location of the study area in relation to the neighbouring districts and locations 1.3 Project operators, contractors and sponsors

The Proponent goes by the name of Rabai Power Limited and is registered under the Companies Act. The company being registered by A/B Consortium is a joint venture between Aldwych International Ltd of United Kingdom and Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor A/S (BWSC) of Denmark, with the sole interest in power generation. They are also registered with the Kenya Revenue Authority for tax purposes as well as appropriate agreements with the Energy Regulation Commission for operation in the sub-sector. Aldwych was established in 2004, for the purpose of developing, owning and operating power generation, transmission and distribution projects in the emerging economies of Africa and Asia. BWSC is a world-leading turnkey contractor and operator for medium and large diesel and gas engine based power systems. The company’s experience and expertise ranges from every aspect of plant design and construction to rehabilitation, operation, maintenance, and financing.


3

1.4 Project schedule Assuming the successful completion of the ESIA and acceptance by NEMA (National Environmental Management Authority) in the first quarter of 2008, the construction phase will kick off immediately and the aim is for completion by the 3rd quarter of 2009. Testing and commissioning will occur from January to August 2009. Full operation is expected by July 2009. 2 CONSULTATION It is a requirement of the ESIA process that significant new developments conduct an extensive consultation exercise to inform the local population, statutory bodies and local organisations and interested parties (generally called stakeholders) about the proposal In order to comply with these requirements the ESIA process has engaged with stakeholders at both scoping and assessment phase. An appendix to this ESIR is the Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF). This document was drafted as a guideline for KPLC to address the issues relating specifically to consultation and negotiation for those affected parties who reside, own land and/or crops in the immediate vicinity of the power plant and who may have to be involuntary resettled as a result. The following stakeholders were identified:

• Residents and landowners in the vicinity of the proposed development site who will be directly and indirectly affected by the power plant

• Local Chiefs and leaders • Provincial delegate of the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) • Regional delegate of NEMA (Mombasa & Kilifi) • Airport Authority • Fuel suppliers • Transportation companies • Construction companies • Service suppliers • Mariakani Town Council • Kilifi Town Council • Lands Commission • Physical Planning (Kilifi) • WRMA

A number of different methods of communication and consultation with the identified stakeholders were employed including:

• Focus group meetings • Individual meeting with key stakeholders • Public meeting • Household surveys • Local and National media insertions • Visit to a similar power plant (TSAVO) with elected representatives of Project Affected

People (PAPs) / community representatives • Presentations • Email correspondence • Telephone discussions • Informal discussions


4

3 ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES The report analyses alternatives for the provision of additional power to the electricity sector in Kenya. It addresses alternatives at the following levels of analysis:

• No action alternative • Options for power generation; • Site specific options for power generation plant sites;

3.1 Summary of fuel type options Table 5-1 of the ESIA provides a summary of the key issues associated with the different fuel types available in Kenya. The Ministry of Energy, KenGen and KPLC are implementing demand management options and considering the various generation options and time frames to address the electricity supply deficit. However as Table 5-1 indicates, thermal power is the only option available to address the immediate shortfall in generation capacity. The cost of diesel, twice that of HFO, and the fact that medium speed diesel engines can be converted to operate on gas means that HFO is currently the only option that can deliver an economic and immediate solution to the generating capacity deficit facing Kenya. The conversion to gas in the future will provide environmental benefits. 3.2 Alternative locations The choice of location of the plant for the Rabai Power Plant is a balance between proximity to the “fuel” source and proximity to a point of access to the electricity grid and key load centres. An additional variable influencing the site location is the time required to negotiate for the property rights to a site. KPLC considered all of these factors and identified the Rabai substation site as the most appropriate. 4 CONSTRUCTION IMPACTS Construction issues identified during the ESIA were divided into the following major categories:

• Air quality • Flora and fauna • Landscape and visual impact • Land use • Noise • Public and occupational health and safety • Socio-economic and local community impacts • Soils • Traffic and transport • Wastes • Water quality and resources

A more detailed breakdown of issues and their impacts is given in the main ESIR Report (Volume 3 Section 8). A total of 35 negative impacts were recognised within the construction phase of the project. Before mitigation 3 impacts were of VERY HIGH significance, 3 of HIGH significance and 19 of MODERATE significance (Figure 3). As discussed in this section, all negative impacts associated with construction can be relatively easily mitigated against.


5

After mitigation all impacts were reduced to MODERATE significance (7 impacts) or lower (Figure 4). The most important risks highlighted within the construction phase are:

• The risk of accident or injury as a result of transport of machinery (MODERATE). • The consumption of water for sewage disposal (MODERATE). • The risk of pollution of land and water by hazardous waste (MODERATE).

In order to ensure that these risks are mitigated to an acceptable level the onus is on the main contractor to enforce appropriate occupational health and safety standards. This will apply to all contractors at all levels. The construction impacts, whether considered individually or cumulatively, should not be seen as a barrier to development.

Low 9

Moderate 19

No Significance

1 Very High 3

High 3

Low 26

Moderate 7

No Significance

2

Figure 3 Unmitigated Impacts Figure 4: Mitigated Impacts The construction phase recognises BENEFICIAL impacts namely enhanced local facilities with the provision of water to the local community, employment, training and capacity building opportunities as well as stimulating economic activity, producing important “micro” benefits for local community. These beneficial impacts appear to outweigh the negative impacts. 5 OPERATIONAL IMPACTS Operational issues identified during the ESIA were divided into the following major categories:

• Air quality • Flora and fauna • Landscape and visual impact • Noise • Public and occupational health and safety • Traffic and transport • Socio-economic and local community impacts • Soils • Water quality and resources • Wastes

A more detailed breakdown of issues and their impacts is given in the main ESIR Report (Volume 3 Section 9). A total of 29 negative impacts were considered within the operational phase of the project. Without mitigation there are 4 VERY HIGH, 7 HIGH and 14 MODERATE impacts (Figure 5). As with the construction phase, virtually all impacts are relatively easily mitigated. With mitigation all impacts are reduced to MODERATE (10) or less (Figure 6).


6

Low 4

Moderate 14

Very High 4

High 7

Low 17

Moderate 10

Figure 5 Unmitigated Impacts Figure 6: Mitigated Impacts Two impacts of significance in the operational phase are those of Noise and Emissions. The mitigation of the Noise impact requires that all available methods are used to reduce the output of noise at the source (plant). Even with this mitigation strategy noise levels will still exceed World Bank standards for some residences within 250m of the proposed plant site. Although these residences will have to be relocated or resettled, the impact remains MODERATE. Resettlement will follow guidelines as set out in the KPLC RPF. New residences could be of superior quality to the current residences, houses will not have to move far and will therefore remain within the communities and there will not be any loss of access to resources. The impact of emissions is considered to be MODERATE as long as Rabai Power Ltd (RPL) uses HFO with a sulphur content of 1.9% or less. This standard may be difficult to achieve due to the absence of low sulphur fuel in the country. Virtually all other MODERATE impacts after mitigation are related to wastes or to the risk of injury or loss of life. These impacts can be further mitigated by careful training, management and monitoring.

There are 3 impacts of BENEFICIAL significance after mitigation. As with the construction phase, these impacts are largely socio-economic. In the main these are; new more efficient and reliable generation capacity, reduced electricity rationing, displacing less efficient plant and the need for expensive back-up diesel generators with associated environmental benefits, increase in economic investment and national income, increase in exports revenues by enhancing the competitiveness of Kenyan goods both regionally and internationally, the provision of water, jobs, and national growth.

In addition, RPL in line with the corporate policies of its sponsors will have a Corporate Social Responsibility Programme (CSRP) that will mainly benefit the local community. The CSRP will be funded from revenues generated from the plant. RPL is committed to providing sustainable benefits primarily for the local region affected by the project. Each year end a CSR committee will review the community development initiatives supplied from the local community and after assessment will award funds to appropriate sustainable project as well as provide technical and financial assistance to the project development and implementation. Such community benefits could be support to schools, enhancement to health care facilities, support for expansion to local water supplies, support for local cottage industries and or other business activities. Before these initiatives are finalised further assessment and additional consultations with community leaders and the affected villages will be arranged to explain and seek agreement on the selected projects.


7

The beneficial impacts described above must not be overlooked, as they are significant within the context of the local community, the current economic and social climate within Kenya and as these benefits will be perpetuated annual for 20 years will accumulate to significant benefits to the community over the life of the project.

6 DECOMMISSIONING IMPACTS Decommissioning issues identified during the ESIA were divided into the following major categories:

• Public and Occupational Health and Safety • Air Quality • Disposal of Non-process Hazardous Wastes • Socio-economic Issues

A more detailed breakdown of issues and their impacts is given in the main ESIR Report (Volume 3 Section 8). Due to the extended time frame before decommissioning is likely to take place (25 years), there are few impacts considered in this phase. A total of 4 impacts were considered. Unmitigated impacts consists of 2 VERY HIGH and 2 LOW (Figure 7). As with all impacts considered in this project, mitigation is relatively easy and as a result, after mitigation, impacts consist of 3 LOW and 1 MODERATE (Figure 8).

Low 2Very High 2

Low 3

Moderate 1

Figure 7: Unmitigated Impacts Figure 8: Mitigated Impacts


8

7 SUMMARY OF IMPACTS The major impacts associated with the power plant have been evaluated after mitigation or optimisation actions, which are primarily the responsibility of the proponent. The following assumptions are made in this ESIA:

• The proponent will utilise all reasonable means to manage the social and biophysical impacts

• A stringent and regular audit of mitigatory actions recommended by this ESIA will be undertaken

• Implementation of the Environmental Action Plan (EAP) and Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) will be undertaken.

This summary concentrates on those impacts of VERY HIGH, HIGH or MODERATE significance. The construction, operation and decommissioning impacts are all considered together. A total of 71 mitigated impacts have been considered in this ESIA (Figure 9). There are no impacts of VERY HIGH or HIGH significance. The majority of impacts are of LOW environmental significance (52) with a small proportion of MODERATE significance (18).

Low 52

Moderate 18

No Significance

3

Figure 9: Mitigated negative impacts occurring as a result of all phases of the Rabai Power Plant development The construction impacts are largely short term and therefore of LOW significance. The few MODERATE impacts are related to the potential for permanent damage to the environment by pollution. With standard waste management practices in place, the risk is significantly reduced. The risk of injury and death to either pedestrians or workers in this phase is most unlikely if correct training and management practices are put in place. The landscape and visual impact is largely beyond viable mitigation but can be reduced by careful landscaping of both neighbouring residents and the plant. Two impacts of special significance in the operational phase are the impact of Noise and Emissions. There will be a requirement to relocate some homes outside the noise impact zone. The new residences, where guidelines as set out in the RPF are followed, could be of superior quality to the current residences. Occupants of the new homes will not be moved far (i.e. to the other side of the village). Affected households will remain within their local community structures. There will not be any loss of access to resources. The impact of resettlement for a few households is considered MODERATE. Within the context of this project, the potential provision of new homes and compensation may even be considered a BENEFICIAL impact by the affected parties.


9

The impact of emissions is considered to be MODERATE as long as RPL uses HFO with a sulphur content of 1.9% or less. This standard may be difficult to achieve due to the absence of low sulphur fuel in the country. If a fuel grade of higher sulphur content (> 2.5%) is used, this impact will need to be reassessed. A number of BENEFICIAL impacts have been recognised as accruing from the Rabai Power Plant, a summary of these is given in Figure 10. All positive or beneficial impacts occur as a result of socio-economic benefits associated with the proposed development. Significant beneficial impacts include:

• The provision of electricity for Kenya and therefore increased economic growth. • New more efficient and reliable generation capacity displacing less efficient plant • Reduced electricity rationing • Reducing the need for expensive back-up diesel generators with associated environmental

benefits • Increase in economic investment and national income • Increase in exports revenues by enhancing the competitiveness of Kenyan goods both

regionally and internationally • The creation of skilled and unskilled jobs for the local people. • Provision of water for those people living adjacent to the proposed site • Community benefits through the corporate and social responsibility programme, and

The provision of new or replacement homes and or compensation for those individuals affected by the power plant noise. While the numbers of positive impacts are numerically less than the negative impacts, one must take cognisance of the magnitude of some of the positive impacts, e.g. the expansion of the Kenya economy. The positive impacts mentioned above must not be under-estimated as they will have significant implications on the local populace and Kenyans in general.

Moderate 2

High 4

Figure 10: Positive Impacts associated with all phases of the Rabai Power Plant Cumulative impacts are incremental effects that result from an action when added to other past, present and reasonable foreseeable future actions. It considers the multiple effects that the Rabai Power Plant may have on the environment over spatial and temporal boundaries. There are few industrial activities in the area around the proposed power plant, this is beneficial to the environment as is reduces the possibility of cumulative impacts. The most important cumulative impact to consider is air quality. The Rabai Power Plant is within the emission airshed of the Tsavo Power Plants in Mombassa however there is unlikely to be a significant cumulative impact because emissions from Rabai Power Plant will be disbursed some distance downwind form the plant (primarily in a north-westerly direction).


10

Cumulative impacts of noise were considered in this study because of the high levels of ambient noise at the site. Together with the implementation of noise mitigation within the plant and resettlement and compensation for a few affected households, the resultant impact was considered to be of MODERATE significance. 8 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 8.1 Recommendations Recommendations Already Incorporated Into Project Design It is important to point out that the ESIA process started early in the pre-feasibility stage and environmental aspects were therefore considered during the project design stages. This proactive approach resulted in many significant environmental impacts being avoided, as the project team were able to amend design in order to manage environmental impacts, rather than manage the environmental impacts of particular designs. Therefore, a number of recommendations have already been incorporated into the design of the project. These include:

• Control of air and waste pollution: The design of the facility and related infrastructure has incorporated many of the recommendations to reduce the impacts of wastes and emissions.

• Resettlement guidelines: The development of the RPF has been undertaken and is recognized as being very important for the successful implementation of the project.

Recommendations for the Rabai Power Plant The principal recommendation of this ESIA is that an Environmental Action Plan (EAP) must be developed after approval of the project by NEMA. A project’s EAP consists of a set of mitigation, monitoring and institutional measures to be taken during implementation and operation to eliminate adverse environmental and social impacts, offset them or reduce them to acceptable levels. More specifically, the EAP includes the following components:

• Mitigation: The EAP identifies feasible and cost effective measures that may reduce potentially significant adverse environmental impacts to acceptable levels.

• Monitoring: Environmental monitoring during project implementation provides information about key environmental aspects of the project, particularly the environmental impacts of the project and the effectiveness of mitigation measures.

• Capacity Development and Training: To support timely and effective implementation of mitigation measures, the EAP must provide a specific description of institutional arrangements, i.e. who is responsible for carrying out the mitigatory and monitoring measures.

• Implementation Schedule: For all three aspects (mitigation, monitoring and capacity development), the EAP provides an implementation schedule for measures that must be carried out as part of the project.

It is envisaged that as a minimum the following will need to form part of the EAP:

1. Resettlement following the guidelines of the RPF. If required a Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) may need to be developed.

2. Waste management strategy; 3. Air pollution strategy; 4. Health and safety strategy; 5. Environmental monitoring;


11

8.2 Rabai Power corporate social responsibility The RPL is committed to executing its responsibilities in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. Aldwych and BWSC have a record of corporate social responsibility, and seek to provide local community enhancements both outside of the project and as part of the project, where it is financially viable to do so or as part of corporate social responsibility programme. RPL is required to adhere to the Aldwych corporate practices. Possible community development opportunities supported out of the envisaged corporate social responsibility include:

• Enhancing local employment; • Enhance welfare and health facilities; • Enhancement to local water supplies; • Support for schools: • Primary production development programs; and • Secondary processing and entrepreneurial development

Each of these opportunities is discussed in greater detail in the ESIR. 8.3 Capacity building RPL have indicated that they are committed to developing and strengthening local capacity in the company by appointing and training key personnel. One such appointment will be an environmental manager whose duty it will be to ensure that the power plant meets its environmental obligations and responsibilities. Other possible proposals will be apprentice/ technical training provided to local “youths” in the community by the RPL staff on a voluntary basis. 8.4 Conclusions The Rabai Power Project will provide generation capacity to address the current electricity demand supply deficit in Kenya. Rural electrification programmes are among the targets of the Kenya Government’s call for enhanced power generation and review of the distribution network. To achieve these goals there is not only a requirement for the improvement and expansion of the electricity network, but also for an increased generation of electricity to match the demand. According to the Least Cost Power Development Plan (LCPDP) produced jointly by the Ministry of Energy and KPLC in 2007, the KPLC customer base is expected to grow by 150 000 connections every year creating an annual demand growth of about 150MW. In order to avoid load shedding, KPLC currently purchases in excess of 100MW of emergency power that is generated by very costly diesel oil plants. In order to meet the predicted shortfall of power at the end of 2008, and in order to provide system stability, a further 50MW of emergency diesel power is currently being sourced. It is envisaged that the proposed power plant at Rabai will help to substitute the bulk of expensive emergency power generation. The location of the power plant in a relatively degraded industrial area, close to Mombassa, and adjacent to the Rabai substation, minimises potential environmental impacts. The impact assessment clearly demonstrates that with relatively easy and cost effective mitigation strategies, environmental impacts can all be kept to a LOW or MODERATE significance. Many of these impacts will be further mitigated when the plant converts its fuel source from HFO to gas. At that time impacts associated with the movement of HGVs for transport of fuel, and the impacts associated with emissions, will be significantly reduced. One of the most important impacts of the plant on the local residents is the affect of noise. To meet World Bank noise emission standards a small number of residents will be required to be moved. With careful planning and negotiation this can be done so that inhabitants do not lose their sense of community and they do not lose access to their local land and resources. The resettlement of individuals will be carefully managed through


12

the implementation of planned resettlement, following the guidelines as set out in the resettlement policy framework and, if required, an action plan. Positive impacts, although few, are extremely significant. Beneficial impacts include such aspects as national economic growth, employment opportunities, training and capacity building, general community development, improved accommodation for some and the provision of potable water to the local inhabitants.

rabai power ltd (kenya) - thermal power plant summary...

Documents