Environmental disaster on the way in Nuweiba

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Snorkelator

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Location
Europe
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There are plans to build a power plant close to nuweiba that will emit its cooling water into the red sea at a temperature 8-9Ž°C above ambient water temps.
Besides it will pollute the area with it's 82m high exhaust chimney.

From other sites:

We contact you in order to ask for your help and assistance in an urgent matter!
We kindly ask for to join us in combatting a serious situation that is arising in Nuweiba !

We, and other investors, residents and workers in Nuweiba, have, over the past couple of days, just learned of the plans of the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company to build a very large power plant, (750Mw gas powered turbines on a site of 105000 square metres - towering over 82 metres in height), in the middle of Nuweiba, South Sinai, Egypt.

Financing is reportedly to be forthcoming from the European Investment Bank and the African Development Bank, (even though procedures of the banks and of the European Union for the granting of such financing has not been properly adhered to).



Furthermore, we were dismayed and shocked to hear that, allegedly, this project has been approved by the Egyptian Environment Affairs Agency. However, we now learn that apparantly this is not the case.



If such a plant proceeds, it will have a disasterous effect on the local tourism industry, on the local Bedouin population and, above all, on the local environment.



Nuweiba is one of the most picturesque parts of the whole southern Sinai peninsula, has an excellent and unique tourism potential, is home to two major Sinai bedouin tribes, and has an almost unique, relatively undisturbed underwater marine life.



Apart from the obvious enormous detrimental effects such a project will have on the local environment and population during the construction period, once operational, the plant will have a negative impact on the quality of air, will reduce the level of sunlight, increase noise polution and, above all, will damage seriously and irreparably the marine life and coral reefs that lie all along the east coast of Nuweiba adjacent to where the plant is planned to be built.



Such a large power plant will also cause the eventual demise of the local tourist industry and subsequently force the closure of the hotels, dive centres and other tourist service providers in the area, resulting in the loss of jobs for the many workers within the tourism industry and the loss of livelihood for the various local businesses that supply products and services to the tourism industry in Nuweiba. Tourism is a major source of income for the local Bedouin tribes so the effects on the loss of this industry is simply unimaginable.



We kindly and respectfully ask your assistance in putting pressure on the Ministry of Electricity and Energy, the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company, the South Sinai Governorate, the European Investment Bank, the African Development Bank and the Egyptian Environment Affairs Agency immediately to withold approvals for this project pending full investigations, in co-ordination with internationally recognised environmental protection agencies, as well as to hold full disclosure meetings and consultation with local residents, businesses and NGOs as this has apparantly not be done. The proposers of this project did place an advertisement in Al Ahram Newspaper, (a single, 1/8th page, insertion on the 8th April 2009 with very brief details on the project and with the instructions that any interested parties should visit certain offices either in Cairo, 470 km away, or Ismaileya, 400 km distant, or attend a meeting on the 15th April 2009 in Sharm el Sheikh, 160 km), but made no other serious attempts to advise, consult or inform the local community.



If you love and wish to preserve the beauty of Nuweiba, please sign the Online Petition you find on this link...

Since I can't post URL's here yet, they can easily be found via google search for nuweiba and power plant...
 
Very nice.....But how should we(you,me and all other divers/tourists)get their so desperately needed/wanted power.:confused:
IMO we must be glad it's gas powered and not oil or coal.
Sure it will have a huge impact on the place.But so have we (tourists)
Because of us,there is a REAL and actual polution problem (Waste)
We, or because of us,leave so much waste,the local people don't have a sulution,other then dump it in the dessert or the ReaSea.

Just some questions;

Have you been there,
Did you dive,
Did you use the AC or fan in your room
Did you drink cold drinks,
did you,did you,did.....

If yes to any of these, your just part of the problem,as all of us.


This is what we call "progress" Like it or not, Egypte has to,just because of US.
 
Cant see now 9c wate above ambient dilued into the red sea will affect anything but a tiny area aroun the power planet. Not bothered by this at all.
 
There are some protectorates in South Sinai (including Ras Mohamed, Ras Abu Galoum, and Nabq) where no power plants are allowed (only some solar panels). However, extending these protectorates furthermore is not applicable IMHO.
 
There are some protectorates in South Sinai (including Ras Mohamed, Ras Abu Galoum, and Nabq) where no power plants are allowed (only some solar panels). However, extending these protectorates furthermore is not applicable IMHO.

I think that in Aqaba there is an example of an amazing dive site located just at the power plant. Of course, it is difficult to compare between the currents etc- but it can give a clue as to the impact of underwater environment. Don't know of other places with Reef/Power plant combinations.
In Israel's Med Sea, the hot water from the power plants cooling system brings plenty of sharks to the area.

I guess there are also the problem with topside environment, but I can't see any solution where to locate a power plant as most of Sinai's coastline is clustered with hotels and resorts (or nature conservations).

It is the price of development: more population, more tourists, more hotels and so on- and as those increase there is need for energy supply, construction of roads, hotels, hospitals, sewage treatment facilities, potable water supply (HUGE concern in Sinai) and lots of other stuff- all with a price tag on environment...

I can understand why nobody wants a power plant in front of his house or hotel, but are there other alternatives?
 
We are in a similar position here in the Southern Philippines where there are plans to construct a 200mw expanding to 900mw power Station right on top of a world class dive site and Marine Sanctuary! The company has already got the Environmental Compliance Certificate even though the plant will be Coal Fired!
Yup, we have problems also!
 
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