Recent sea experience in South Africa and national principles: Learning from national scale SEAs for renewable energy and power corridors

Abstract

Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) for the development of wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) energy and powerline corridors have recently been completed in South Africa, leading to a decision by the South African Cabinet in February 2016 to legislate the outcomes of these SEAs. This is almost ten years since an updated version of the South African SEA Guidelines was released in 2007, which included principles for SEA in South Africa. This paper outlines the planning context, need and objectives of the recent wind and solar SEA and powerline corridors SEA. Thereafter, we reflect on the principles from the SEA Guidelines in the light of this recent SEA experience. Given the brevity of this paper, we focus on four principles that provide interesting examples of learning, as well as capturing the unexpected outcomes from the SEAs. The paper concludes with how this learning can inform future SEAs being conducted in support of similar national-scale development programs.