A battery production and recycling factory – to be called AFRICAN BATTERY FACTORY – and producing lithium-ion batteries for hybrid electric vehicles, might soon arise on a 450 ha stretch of the farm Langeberg some 9 km from the Port of Saldanha.
Photo: Nissan lithium-ion battery pack plant under construction, Smyrna, Tennessee, Jan 2011
The proposed factory that PYXIS ENERGY (PTY) LTD plans to establish will allegedly produce lithium-ion (or similar) batteries with an annual production capacity up to 200 GWh (gigawatt-hours). The characteristics, the technology and the extent of the initiative are defined more in detail in the underneath document.
The location of the facility is between Arcelor Mittal and the West Coast Fossil Park.
It involves the “clearance of an area of 300m² or more of indigenous vegetation:
(a) In Western Cape province:
(i) Within any critically endangered or endangered ecosystem listed in terms of section 52 of the NEMBA or prior to the publication of such a list, within an area that has been identified as critically endangered in the National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment 2004;
(ii) Within critical biodiversity areas identified in bioregional plans.
The new power lines for the connection of African Battery Factory to the Eskom Blouwater distribution may cross endangered ecosystem (Saldanha Limestone Strandveld) in terms of section 52 of the NEMBA and critical biodiversity areas identified in the Fine-Scale Biodiversity Planning (FSP) project led by Cape Nature in partnership with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), part of the C.A.P.E. (Cape Action for People and the Environment) programme.”
“Water will be provided from the Municipality. In view of industrial developments already planned in the area, the Municipality is currently investigating several options to increase water availability, and include:
• a new sea water desalination plant;
• a waste water treatment facility, purifying grey water from the municipality grey water system (Vredenburg Waste Water Treatment works, 5 km North-West of the project site) and/or grey water resulting from mining activities on the farm Elandsfontein, located 20 km South-East of the project site.”
The public participation process is due during April – May 2017, while the dates given for the submission of the Draft Scoping and Final Scoping Reports are end of May and end of June 2017 respectively. That means that the public and affected parties don’t have much time to consider the pro’s and cons of such an ambitious project that has historically been China’s exclusive gold mine. The Draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report is due in August while the submission of the Final EIA Report is scheduled for September 2017 already.
Photo: Mining lithium in geothermal brine
The purpose of the document (link attached) is “to provide information about the proposed project; to explain the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process; to provide an opportunity for participation in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process.”
“This document also indicates how you can receive information, or raise issues, which may be of concern and/or interest for interested and/or affected parties (I&AP’s). The sharing of information forms the basis of the public participation process and offers you the opportunity to become actively involved in the project from the outset. ”
Read the report here, and also some other background about similar battery factories.
http://lithium-ion.weebly.com/
http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/hold-smugness-tesla-might-just-worse-environment-know/
https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/255922/beyond-tesla-2-lithium-stocks-to-buy-now