Two-pronged approvals for aquaculture

Path cleared in Coega zone for investment in both fish farming and desalination projects

ACCESS to the aquaculture sector in Nelson Mandela Bay has been given a boost after the Coega Development Corporation (CDC) this week cleared two significant obstacles for potential investors to establish facilities on a “plug and play” basis.

While considered as one assessment package, the CDC has received environmental approval to host both a 440ha land-based aquaculture development zone and a sea water desalination plant in Zone 10 of its Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

For aquaculture investors, this means avoiding massive additional costs and delays of up to two years to have an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) completed and approved before actual construction on an aquaculture project could commence.

In addition, the environmental approval means a desalination plant can be established to supply not only the aquaculture zone – which has approvals for both fresh and sea water fish farming – but also other water consumers, such as the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.

The CDC described the landmark approvals for the intertwined projects as hitting the jackpot. CDC manager of project development Dr Keith du Plessis said yesterday: “The approval of the EIA is a major leap towards fulfilling the Coega SEZ’s vision to locate one of the largest aquaculture development zones in South Africa on one geographical footprint and respond to the severe water shortages experienced in the Bay.”

He said it had been determined that failure, particularly by smaller companies, to obtain environmental approval had often resulted in projects never materialising.

As a result, the aquaculture sector was largely untapped and underperforming.

“The approved EIA relieves the financial burden from the investor as it would ordinarily take up to two years for companies seeking to establish an aquaculture facility and/or a desalination plant at the Coega SEZ,” Du Plessis said.

“This is evidence of the CDC’s value proposition as a ‘plug and play’ environment, where investors have shortened timeframes from when they inquire about investing to when they have access to market.”

Du Plessis said the municipality had announced this month that water levels of the metro supply dams had reached an all-time low of just above 24%.

“The CDC now has authorisation to develop facilities for the desalination of water with a maximum capacity of 60 million litres (Ml) per day,” he said.

“This capacity, if tapped into, could provide for almost a quarter of the metro’s current water consumption needs [currently at approximately 260 Ml/day].

“The CDC is a capable and potential solution to the water problems experienced in the metro.”

He said the costs associated with desalination were often viewed as a major obstacle to an extensive rollout of the technology, but that major strides in reducing these costs had been made over the past few years.

Du Plessis said the CDC had already fielded strong interest in participation in the aquaculture zone, which could see fish such as catfish and rainbow trout and shellfish such as perlemoen being farmed, and that projects in the zone could start to be implemented within a year.

He said more discussions, with organisations such as the Bay administration, would be taking place around the potential desalination plant as a major offtake (buyer/consumer) agreement would need to be in place to make the plant viable.

The approved EIA relieves the financial burden from the investor