VI. Potential Environmental and Social Effects of the Program
Environmental benefits will be derived from substitution of electricity for other household and business energy sources and increased reliance on renewable energy sources. Social benefits will result from increased access to electricity. Potential adverse environmental impacts of the Program are likely to be associated with installation of medium- and low-voltage distribution lines and MV-LV transformers, construction of SPP generating facilities, operation of mini-hydro and biomass SPPs, and disposal of spent lead-acid batteries from solar home systems. None of the impacts is expected to be significant or difficult to avoid or mitigate, and few will be of more than short-term and local scale. Potential adverse social impacts are likely to be associated with land acquisition for SPP generating plants and acquisition of way leaves (rights of way) for 33 and 11 kV distribution lines. These are also not anticipated to be of large scale but could adversely affect individual project-affected persons (PAPs) that lose assets including structures, crops and trees, and the use of portions of their land. Physical relocation of households or businesses will not be extensive. The ESSA identifies the key measures to be taken for improved environmental and social due diligence in the Program and is intended to help the Government and implementing agencies in overcoming deficiencies with regard to environment, social, health and safety aspects of rural electrification and institute systemic improvements.
Potential Environmental Benefits and Risks
The Program’s Environmental Benefits are substantial and long-term. They can be summarized as follows.
Benefits from provision of electricity to households and businesses:
Reduction in use of diesel or gasoline-powered generators and other equipment such as grain mills, pumps, leading to reduced emissions of air pollutants, greenhouse gases (GHG), and noise
Reduction in consumption of kerosene for lighting and other uses, resulting in improved indoor air quality
Benefits from power generation using renewable energy sources:
Reduction in use of diesel or gasoline-powered generators and other equipment such as grain mills, pumps, leading to reduced emissions of air pollutants, greenhouse gases (GHG), and noise
Increase in generation capacity with avoided GHG emissions
The major environmental risks associated with the Program are summarized below.
Risks from installation and operation of SPP mini-hydro systems:
Obstruction of movement of migratory fish, if present
Mortality or stress on aquatic organisms caused by low flow or no flow in stream headrace intake and tailrace outlet
Mortality of aquatic organisms by entrainment in turbines
Diminished flow for downstream uses of water
Climate change and anthropogenic changes in the catchment may reduce water flows for power generation
Risk from land clearing for installation of SPP solar generating plants (approximately 2 ha/MW,with plants likely to be 10 MW or less)
Loss of vegetative cover and habitat
Increase in soil erosion
Risks from operation of biomass gasification power plants
Diversion of agricultural production from food supply into energy
Deforestation if natural forest is used as biomass source or converted to plantations for biomass production
Water and soil pollution from improper management of residues from gasifier
Dust and odors
Explosion and fire hazard
Risks from clearing of way leave for distribution lines that cannot be located in the road reserve (10m width for 33 kV, 5m width for 11 kV)
Loss of vegetative cover and habitat
Increase in soil erosion until revegetation
Plant material removed from site causes GHG emissions and air pollution if burned
Obstruction of bird movements
Risks from poor maintenance of solar home systems: battery replacement
Improper disposal leads to potential water pollution and health risk
Informal battery recycling by burning battery cases to extract lead causes air pollution and serious health risk for those involved in the practice or living in the vicinity.
Workplace and health and safety risks
Electrocution hazard during operation of generating plants and installation and maintenance of power distribution lines
Injury from falls when working at heights, or from falling objects
Injury or fatality from heavy construction equipment
Injury or fatality from explosion and fire at gasification plants
Nearly all of these potential risks can be easily managed through routine mitigation measures and application of good design and construction practice. Managing the mini-hydro impacts requires analysis to determine the characteristics of the ecosystem,the stream hydrology, and downstream water uses, and to assess the need for and decide on the appropriate environmental flow. The operating rules should specify the releases that are required to maintain aquatic life in the stream segment between headrace inlet and tailrace outlet. Biomass gasification systems must be designed to minimize explosion and fire hazard (e.g., with gas detectors and alarms, proper ventilation) and to control potential pollution sources including dust, odors, gasifier residues. Safety and waste management procedures need to be clearly specified and accompanied by training of operators. Biomass generating plants should not depend on or result in conversion of natural habitat. Biomass projects that depend on plantations should be carefully evaluated for impacts on food supply and habitat..Proper solar home system battery disposal requires an acceptable disposal procedure and location. The most practical mitigation measure is to require the system provider to take back spent batteries and dispose of them properly. The key to managing workplace health and safety risks is supervision and enforcement of adherence to rules and procedures – TANESCO’s Distribution Engineering Instruction Manual provides comprehensive requirements for work on power lines and substations – and safety rules should be established for each generating station. Construction contracts must include workplace health and safety requirements. REA, TANESCO, and SPP personnel will need periodic health and safety training.
