Draft Basic Assessment Report - Proposed Red Sands Grid Infrastructure near Groblershoop, Northern Cape Province

AGV Projects (Pty) Ltd (AGV) is developing the Red Sands Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) facility and associated infrastructure. The BESS facility is located on the Remainder of Portion 19 of Farm Rooisand 387, approximately 22 kilometres (km) north-east of Groblershoop in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. The proposed BESS facility will have a contracted capacity of 153 megawatt (MW). AGV proposes to develop grid infrastructure to connect the Red Sands BESS facility to the national electricity grid (“the Project”).
The Project will include grid infrastructure that will be handed over to Eskom, primarily consisting of:
• A 132 kilovolt (kV) Eskom Switching Substation adjacent to the Independent Power Producer (IPP) substation;
• A proposed 400 / 132 kV Main Transmission Substation (MTS);
• A 132 kV overhead powerline (OHL) of approximately 10,5 km from the Eskom Switching Substation to the proposed 400 / 132 kV MTS;
• Loop in and out (LILO) of the Ferrum – Nieuwehoop 400 kV OHL;
• Loop in of the Garona – Groblershoop 132 kV OHL (including upgrade capacity of the existing 132 kV OHL section and an additional 132 kV OHL of approximately 850 metres (m) from the proposed MTS to the existing Eskom Garona MTS); and
• Access and maintenance roads, including upgrades to existing roads to allow larger component transport.
Province(s): Northern Cape