{"id":6334,"date":"2023-04-17T16:53:36","date_gmt":"2023-04-17T14:53:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/?p=6334"},"modified":"2023-04-17T16:55:32","modified_gmt":"2023-04-17T14:55:32","slug":"public-comment-sought-on-exclusion-of-expansion-of-solar-pv-from-environmental-authorisation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/public-comment-sought-on-exclusion-of-expansion-of-solar-pv-from-environmental-authorisation\/","title":{"rendered":"Public comment sought on exclusion of expansion of solar PV from environmental authorisation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister, Barbara Creecy, has begun the public consultation process on the intention to exclude the development and expansion of solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage facilities from the requirement to obtain environmental authorisation.<\/p>\n

The intention of the proposed exclusions is aimed at improving the efficiency of the environmental assessment process.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition, these exclusions intend to simplify the deployment of solar PV and battery storage facilities, to expedite the generation of electricity from renewable energy resources, facilitate the distribution of this generation capacity and contribute to addressing the existing electricity shortages currently being experienced by the country,\u201d said the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Monday, the department said the exclusions apply when the facilities are developed in areas confirmed to be of \u201clow\u201d or \u201cmedium\u201d environmental sensitivity and will be subject to a site sensitivity verification, compliance to a site-specific environmental management programme and a registration process.<\/p>\n

This is in line with the sector\u2019s ongoing efforts to simplify the environmental legislative impact assessment framework for energy projects whilst ensuring that environmental protection is not compromised.<\/p>\n

Members of the public are invited to submit written comments or input within 30 days of publication of both Government Notices to any of the following addresses:<\/p>\n

By post to: <\/strong>Director-General, Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Attention: Dr Dee Fischer,\u00a0Private Bag X447, PRETORIA, 0001<\/p>\n

By hand at: <\/strong>Reception, Environment House, 473 Steve Biko Road, Arcadia, Pretoria.<\/p>\n

By email:<\/strong> dfischer@dffe.gov.za<\/p>\n

Any inquiries in connection with the Notice can be directed to Dr Dee Fischer by phone at 012 399 8843 or by email at dfischer@dffe.gov.za<\/p>\n

Comments or inputs received after the closing dates may not be considered.<\/p>\n

To access the Government Gazette, click on:<\/p>\n

Click to access nema_solarphotovoltaicfacilitiesEAexclusion_g48425gon3286.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

-SAnews.gov.za<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister, Barbara Creecy, has begun the public consultation process on the intention to exclude the development and expansion of solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage facilities from the requirement to obtain environmental authorisation. The intention of the proposed exclusions is aimed at improving the efficiency of the environmental assessment process. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6334","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-solar","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Straton_Solar_High_Site_Collage-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Straton_Solar_High_Site_Collage-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Alan","author_link":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/author\/alan\/"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Straton_Solar_High_Site_Collage-scaled.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5HvVd-1Ea","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1067,"url":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/cabinet-approves-renewable-energy-development-zones\/","url_meta":{"origin":6334,"position":0},"title":"Cabinet approves Renewable Energy Development Zones","author":"Alan","date":"25 February 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Cabinet has approved the gazetting of eight Renewable Energy Development Zones (REDZ) and five Power Corridors, which will assist South Africa with its electricity challenges. \"These Renewable Energy Development Zones and Power Corridors are geographical areas where wind and solar photovoltaic technologies can be incentivized and where \u2018deep' grid expansion\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar"","block_context":{"text":"Solar","link":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/category\/solar\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1869,"url":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wind-and-solar-pv-have-won-the-race-its-too-late-for-other-clean-energy-technologies\/","url_meta":{"origin":6334,"position":1},"title":"Wind and solar PV have won the race \u2013 it’s too late for other clean energy technologies","author":"Alan","date":"28 June 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Across the world, solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind are the dominant clean energy technologies. This dominance is likely to become overwhelming over the next few years, preventing other clean energy technologies (including carbon capture and storage, nuclear and other renewables) from growing much. As the graph below shows, PV and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar"","block_context":{"text":"Solar","link":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/category\/solar\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Conversation","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/counter.theconversation.edu.au\/content\/61503\/count.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":72,"url":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/the-principle-and-benefits-of-grid-connected-pv\/","url_meta":{"origin":6334,"position":2},"title":"The principle and benefits of grid-connected PV","author":"Alan","date":"15 December 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Energy costs continue to increase year-on-year, and while the national energy regulator (NERSA) has limited electricity price hikes to just 8% over the past few years, this will likely increase in 2015. As a result, electricity is fast becoming a major cost centre for homes and small businesses, leading users\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar"","block_context":{"text":"Solar","link":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/category\/solar\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":167,"url":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/sa-businesses-urged-to-invest-in-customised-solar-and-energy-management-solutions\/","url_meta":{"origin":6334,"position":3},"title":"SA businesses urged to invest in customised solar and energy management solutions","author":"Alan","date":"8 January 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cThe rising cost of energy paired with the unreliability of the national electricity supplier has become a growing concern for SA businesses that are heavily dependent on electricity supply. In the light of this many business owners are starting to consider renewable sources of energy such as Photovoltaic (PV) solutions\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar"","block_context":{"text":"Solar","link":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/category\/solar\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1883,"url":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/solar-energy-could-power-13-of-the-world-by-2030\/","url_meta":{"origin":6334,"position":4},"title":"Solar Energy Could Power 13% of the World by 2030","author":"Alan","date":"29 June 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Less than 2% of today\u2019s global electricity is generated by solar photovoltaics (PV), but this is set to change. According to an IRENA report released today at InterSolar Europe, this figure could grow to 13% by 2030. Letting in the Light: How Solar Photovoltaics Will Revolutionize the Electricity System finds\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar"","block_context":{"text":"Solar","link":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/category\/solar\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/summerofsolar_4.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1995,"url":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/the-south-african-renewable-energy-council-on-rooftop-pv\/","url_meta":{"origin":6334,"position":5},"title":"The South African Renewable Energy Council on Rooftop PV","author":"Alan","date":"21 July 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Q. With the acceleration of deployment of embedded solar PV on the rise at industrial, commercial and residential level, what roles do the private sector, municipalities, municipal electricity distributors and Eskom play in the rooftop solar PV sector? A. As industry associations, our mandate is to promote the expansion of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar"","block_context":{"text":"Solar","link":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/category\/solar\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6334"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6335,"href":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6334\/revisions\/6335"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/straton.co.za\/solar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}