Environmental green light for Coega tank farm

Plans for moving the existing liquid bulk tank farm facility in the port of Port Elizabeth to Ngqura have been given the green light. The demolition of the outdated tank farm will open up the Port Elizabeth harbour for development as a vehicle transit hub, according to Transnet. Space is also being freed up for leisure activities. Oiltanking Grindrod Calulo, an independent bulk liquid storage provider, has been granted the tender to operate the Ngqura tank farm. The company is an amalgamation of German company Oiltanking GmbH, Grindrod South Africa, and investment group Calulo Terminals. There are plans to build storage tanks with a total combined capacity of approximately 790 000 cubic metres, road and rail tanker loading gantries, pipelines extending between the tank farm and a dedicated berth, as well as marine loading arms and other related infrastructure at the quayside. A rail tanker loading gantry will be constructed if there is sufficient demand, according to the Environmental Impact Assessment headed by the CSIR. The report found that “the project benefits outweigh the costs, and the project will make a positive contribution to steering South Africa on a pathway towards sustainable infrastructure development. “Provided that the specified mitigation measures are applied effectively, it is recommended that the project receive environmental authorisation in terms of the EIA Regulations promulgated under the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA). “The proposed OTGC Tank Farm is a key development project upon which several other developments within the Port of Ngqura and Coega IDZ are directly dependent, such as the proposed PhytoAmandla Biofuels Processing Plant and the proposed PetroSA Refinery (Project Mthombo),” it says. PhytoAmandla proposes to build a biofuels processing plant in the Coega IDZ to produce around 400 000 metric tons annually of biodiesel, mainly for the export market from canola. CAPTION The proposed OTGC Tank Farm is a key development project upon which several other developments within the Port of Ngqura and Coega IDZ are directly dependent.