GAZETTE NOTICE NO. 9910

PURSUANT to regulation 21 of the Environmental Management and Co-ordination (Impact Assessment and Audit) Regulations, 2003, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has received an Environmental Impact Assessment Study Report for the above proposed project. The proponent Devki Steel Mills Limited, proposes to develop a wind farm that will consist of 12 wind vestas V90 3MW turbines which are pitch regulated upwind wind turbines with active yaw and three blade rotor, with all necessary auxiliary facilities, overhead power line and access roads. This turbine has a rotor diameter of 90m with a generator rated of 3.0MW. The electricity generated will be fed to an existing nearby sub-station and power transmission grid within the premises of Devki Steel Mills Limited. The project will be located on Plot No. South Samburu Group Ranch/88 Kwale County. The following are the anticipated impacts and mitigations measures: Impact Mitigation Measures Impacts on terrestrial flora and fauna- vegetation clearing • Careful site selection for the wind farm and associated transmission lines to avoid or minimize the clearing vegetation and destruction of associated fauna habitats. • Configuring wind turbines and access roads to minimize the clearing of vegetation and destruction of associated fauna habitats. • Limit vegetation clearance and removal to actual location/installation of the turbine and allied infrastructure. • Avoid off-road driving by wind farm personnel that can result in destruction of flora and fauna on site. Noise and vibration • Limit the construction and turbine installation to daytime. • Ensure equipment like heavy duty cranes being used to install the turbines are appropriately serviced and maintained. • Put in place a comprehensive noise and vibration conservation programme which will include noise and vibration level monitoring, use of noise attenuators, training and use of appropriate personal protective equipment. • Ensure the provisions of Environmental Management and • Co-ordination (Noise and excessive vibration control) Regulation, 2009 are adhered to. Particulate matter (dust) emission • Regular sprinkle water on opened dusty access roads. • Secure construction site with dust screens. • Provide construction workers with appropriate personal protective devices • Monitor dust levels. • Ensure the provisions of the Environmental Management and Co- ordination (Air Quality) Regulations, 2014 Impact Mitigation Measures are adhered to. Occupational injuries • Ensure only skilled and experienced workers are involved in the construction of the wind farm and allied infrastructure. • Ensure suitable, appropriate, well serviced and maintained equipment are availed to the workers. • Workers working at height and in confined areas must be provided with appropriate safety equipment. • An all equipped first aid station to be on site with trained and experienced first aiders, stand by ambulance and referral hospital. • Ensure that the provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 2007 are adhered to. Traffic inconvenience along Mombasa- Kwale–Nairobi Road • Permission to be sought from Kenya National Highway Authority for transportation of abnormal loads (wind turbines) prior to transportation. • An escort vehicle one in front and one behind the truck transporting the turbines to be provided. • Turbines to be transported during daylight only. • Notice to be issued on local press of transportation of abnormal loads on the said road to inform other potential road users on order for them to exercise extra caution. Visual impacts • Thorough stakeholder engagement, including prior consultation, participatory decision-making, and information disclosure and dissemination. Adjusting the location of turbine rows or individual turbines to reduce perceived visual impacts. • Choose wind power equipment with aesthetics in mind (where consistent with other objectives), such as a smaller number of (larger) turbines and reduced or different night lighting. • Careful site selection to locate turbines where they would not produce shadow flicker around human dwellings. • Use planning tools—standard industry software that predicts the location and timing of shadow flicker. • Stakeholder engagement with potentially affected households and businesses. • Create a visually balanced, simple and consistent image by adopting a regular wind turbine tower layout format such as a double line, a triangle, or a grid for regular landscapes such as an open or levelled space as is the case of the proposed project site. • Turbine colors to be white, off-white or grey which gives people a feeling of cleanliness and efficiency and engage the turbines to the backdrops at different views and in different weather conditions. • Design of wind farm according to the peculiarities of the site and with sensitivity 19th August, 2022 THE KENYA GAZETTE Impact Mitigation Measures to the surrounding landscape. • Locate the wind farm at least reasonable distance from dwellings. • Selection of wind turbine design (tower, color) according to landscape characteristics; • Selection of neutral color and anti- reflective paint for towers and blades. • Underground cables • Lights for low-altitude flight only for more exposed towers. Noise disturbance • Careful site selection to locate turbines an adequate distance from human dwellings. • Use planning Tools—standard industry software that predicts specific noise impacts on nearby buildings. • Stakeholder engagement with potentially affected households and businesses. • Improved blade design to reduce the aerodynamic noise by decreasing rotational speeds to under 65 m/s at the tip; and using pitch control on upwind turbines, which permits the rotation of the blades along their long axis • Application of upwind turbines to reduce low frequency noise. • Use of special gearboxes for wind turbines instead of standard industrial gearboxes. Steel wheels of the special gearbox have semi-soft and flexible cores with hard surfaces to ensure strength, to extend the lifetime of the equipment, and to muffle noise. • Consider direct drive wind turbines without any gearbox or high-speed mechanical component which operate more quietly or variable-speed turbines which create less noise at low wind speeds than the constant-speed turbines. Impacts on avifauna and bats • Careful site selection to avoid building wind farm within important bird habitats and bird migration routes. • Bird flight activities in a zone of 200-500 m surrounding the planned wind farm should be recorded and analyzed. Fight heights, directions, species, and behaviors of birds should be studied systematically. • Restrict construction activities to non- breeding periods for avifauna to help reduce the negative effects of bird disturbance. • Structural design improvements to reduce bird mortality by enlarging the blades and slowing the rotational speed of the turbines. • Pattern paint the blades to increase the visual acuity of raptors. • Provide night illumination by lighting the turbine tower to improve blade visibility at night to reduce bird and bat collision with turbine towers at night. • Increased turbine cut-in speed (which is the lowest wind speed at which the rotor blades are spinning and generating electricity for the grid) to minimize bat Impact Mitigation Measures mortality. • Short-term shutdowns (in which the rotor blades do not turn during peak migration events) to minimize bird mortality. • The direction of tower layout should be properly designed to reduce the effects on bird migration. Reception of radio waves and weather radar electromagnetic interferences • Careful site selection to avoid installing turbines within the line-of-sight of radar or telecommunications facilities. • Consider using turbine blades made from synthetic materials, which produced less electromagnetic interference compared to steel blades. • Install deflectors or repeaters to overcome the problem of already existing wind turbine induced electromagnetic interference. Local climate change • Careful site selection for location of wind farm to ensure the wind farm is located in regions where wind energy is abundant and the frictional dissipation is high in this way, the wind energy will be harvested instead of losing as frictions. • Rotor generated turbulences to be reduced through improved rotor and blade designs and a proper design of turbine spacing and pattern. Blade throw • Careful site selection to locate turbines an adequate distance from human dwellings • Timely servicing and maintenance of the turbines as per manufacturer‘s schedule. Injuries and accidents • Ensure that the provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 2007 are adhered to. • Ensure only skilled and experienced workers are involved in the decommissioning of the wind farm and allied infrastructure. • Ensure suitable, appropriate, well serviced and maintained equipment are availed to the workers. • Workers working at height and in confined areas must be provided with appropriate safety equipment. • An all equipped first aid station to be on site with trained and experienced first aiders, stand by ambulance and referral hospital. Noise and vibration • Limit the dismantling of the turbines and allied infrastructure to daytime. • Ensure equipment used in the decommissioning of the entire wind farm are appropriately serviced and maintained. • Put in place a comprehensive noise and vibration conservation programme which will include noise and vibration level monitoring, use of noise attenuators, training and use of appropriate personal protective equipment. • Ensure the provisions of Environmental Management and • Co-ordination (Noise and excessive vibration control) Regulation, 2009 are 6690 6690 Impact Mitigation Measures adhered to. Dust • Regular sprinkle water. • Secure decommission site with dust screens. • Provide decommissioning workers with appropriate personal protective devices • Monitor dust levels. • Ensure the provisions of the Environmental Management and Co- ordination (Air Quality) Regulations, 2014 are adhered to. Waste generation • Ensure all the waste generated is handled and disposed as provided for in the Environmental Management and Co- ordination (Waste Management) Regulations, 2006. • Explore possibility of re-use and or recycling. The full report of the proposed project is available for inspection during working hours at: (a) Principal Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, NHIF Building, 12th Floor, Ragati Road, Upper Hill, P.O. Box 30126–00100, Nairobi. (b) Director-General, NEMA, Popo Road, off Mombasa Road, P.O. Box 67839–00200, Nairobi. (c) County Director of Environment, Kwale County. A copy of the report can be downloaded at www.nema.go.ke The National Environment Management Authority invites members of the public to submit oral or written comments within thirty (30) days from the date of publication of this notice to the Director-General, NEMA, to assist the Authority in the decision making process regarding this project. Comments can also be emailed to dgnema@nema.go.ke MAMO B. MAMO, Director-General, MR/3883431 National Environment Management Authority.