Electricity and Control April 2022

WRITE @ THE BACK

E IMS Africa and its portfolio company, Umoya Energy Wind Farm, and SANParks are celebrating a pioneering Biodiversity Offset Agreement that was formalised almost a decade ago. This public-private partnership was the first of its kind and entailed an agreement with Umoya Energy Wind Farm and SANParks, which extends the West Coast National Park (WCNP), as part of a broader biodiversity expansion programme. A recently published report, released Q4/2021, funded by the Global Environment Fund (GEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) South Africa Country Office, showcases the agreement and its successes. Ryan Hammond, CEO of EIMS Africa and the Umoya Energy Wind Farm said: “At the time this public-private partnership was a first of its kind in the renewable energy sector in South Africa. A decade later, we are proud that it remains intact and has resulted in a measurable positive environmental impact on the land as well as in the local community.” Umoya Energy Wind Farm was the first REIPPPP wind farm to reach its stipulated commercial operation date in February 2014. During the development phase, extensive consultation was undertaken to ensure the impact on the environment, as a result of the construction of the wind farm, was minimised. The recommendation proposed was that Umoya Energy, in partnership with SANParks, would manage the land as a conservation area. Since signing the original memorandum of understand- ing, in August 2012, EIMS Africa has actively engaged A pioneering biodiversity offset

and collaborated with SANParks to ensure the conserva- tion area has been managed effectively, to eradicate alien vegetation and restore the land to its original natural bio- diverse state. “The agreement focuses on the environmental management of the conservation area and makes provision for a number of economic development opportunities for local contractors. This innovative thinking has resulted in tangible wins, including the restoration of the natural biodiversity, a reduction in the risk of veld fires and a number of direct benefits to the local community including skills development, local employment and local enterprise development,” Hammond added. The agreement between Umoya Energy and SANParks was the result of more than a year of extensive consultation and negotiation between the parties and their advisors. The agreement will endure for the full operating life of the project – through to February 2034. Umoya Energy owns three adjoining farms with a combined area of about 2 400 hectares. Roughly half of this land was designated as a conservation area and is managed by SANParks. The offset area of 1 183.3995 ha was declared and gazetted in February 2017, in terms of Section 20 of the National Environmental Management Act. As noted by SANParks, the GEF-UNDP report regards this biodiversity offset agreement, signed in 2014, as a good example for biodiversity offsetting and considers it to be one of the few successful offset investments in South Africa, addressing a number of biodiversity challenges. It notes that the Agreement Manager, appointed by the parties to the agreement, facilitates, coordinates and drives the projects’ deliverables. Additionally, the agreement addresses financial arrangements with a clear project implementation plan and budget. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) brief on biodiversity offsets recognises that public and private sector investments in projects are among the current drivers of economic growth, but biodiversity is not well accounted for under the present economic system and such projects can have significant impacts on species and on ecosystems more generally. Measures to compensate for negative impacts, known as biodiversity offsets, are increasingly being used by governments and the private sector. Biodiversity offsets are described as: measurable conservation outcomes designed to compensate for adverse and unavoidable impacts of projects, in addition to prevention and mitigation measures. For more information visit: https://eimsafrica.com/

The development of Umoya Energy Wind Farm introduced a biodiversity offset agreement which extends the conservation area of SANParks’ West Coast National Park.

32 Electricity + Control APRIL 2022