- Local archaeologists to investigate 60km of historic landscape for project
- Key finds would be recorded for the public archive and available to the community for future generations.
LINCOLN firm Allen Archaeology(1) will begin digging around 300 archaeological trial trenches(1) next month (August), building a unique and detailed picture of the historic landscape of the local area.
The works are part of a programme of surveys being funded by and undertaken for Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm, a partnership between energy companies innogy SE which is managing the project on behalf of the partnership and Statkraft(2), as the project continues to map out its onshore construction programme.
While the surveys are important to the wind farm construction, they also form part of one of the largest archaeological explorations of the local area. Triton Knoll said that any findings will be fully recorded and archived locally for the benefit of future generations.
The substantial preconstruction work takes place along the entire length of the project’s almost 60kms long onshore cable corridor – including fields adjacent to the landfall location, the onshore substation and the Intermediate Electrical Compound sites. The results will ensure any archaeological sites are sensitively and appropriately managed during future construction works.
Triton Knoll Project Director James Cotter, said: “This is a really valuable and interesting programme of investigations for the project and also for the local area. The trenches will mostly be around a metre deep and the results will help build a really detailed picture of the landscape to help inform our construction methods. At the same time, we may uncover some interesting local artefacts, which could be of real interest to future generations, and will be passed over to local curators as a record of the area’s archaeological history, once all analysis is finished.
“Triton Knoll is a hugely important clean energy infrastructure project for the UK, and will make a significant contribution towards the Government’s drive for sustainable, low carbon, low cost electricity for UK consumers and businesses.
“This latest round of survey works is our most significant onshore activity to date, and marks another important step towards ensuring Triton Knoll is construction ready by the time we reach a final Financial Investment Decision.
Mike Wood, at Allen Archaeology, who is leading the works for Triton Knoll, said: “We’ll be carrying out our activities to tie in as closely as possible with the agricultural cycle, and in such a way as to minimise impacts on agricultural land. We anticipate the works potentially taking approximately five months, and expect the bulk of the work to take place during late summer and early autumn.”
Allen Archaeology will dig around 300 trenches and survey the areas using metal detectors. Trenches will be approximately 2m wide and up to 50m long in places and visible across local fields, but does not indicate a start of construction work. The trial trenching will not impact on any public right of way, and the results will ensure important archaeological sites can be sensitively managed during future constructions works.
Triton Knoll is being developed as a joint venture between innogy (50%) and Statkraft (50%), with innogy managing the project on behalf of the partnership.(2) At up to 900MW, the fully operational project would be capable of generating enough energy for around 800,000 UK homes(3).
The project will be located approximately 32km off the Lincolnshire coast and 50km off the coast of North Norfolk. It has consent to install almost 60 kilometres of onshore underground export cable, an Intermediate Electrical Compound at Orby, and a new substation near Bicker Fen (4).
Businesses wanting to register an interest in working with Triton Knoll can submit their details at the project website: www.tritonknoll.co.uk/supply-chain/registration-of-interested-businesses/
For more information about the project, please visit: www.tritonknoll.co.uk
Ends
Media Contact
Mark Fleming
Triton Knoll Communications Manager
M: 07825 608096
E: pressoffice@tritonknoll.co.uk
Editors notes
- Allen Archaeology and Trial Trenching
Allen Archeology is an independent, professional commercial archaeological contractor and consultancy and a Registered Organisation with the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists. They provide a full range of archaeological services on a national basis, from desk-based assessments and geophysical surveys to large scale excavations.
Trial Trenching – A series of non-intrusive geophysical surveys have already been undertaken to inform the location of the trial trenches. Allen Archaeology is already working closely with all landowners and with local authorities, as it prepares to undertake the programme of archaeological investigations. It expects to dig around 300 trial trenches at key locations over the coming months. Trenches will be approximately 2m wide, up to 50m long in places and around 1 metre deep. The work will be carried out by three mobile teams and will involve hand digging, and recording of any significant archaeological findings made along the way.
The archaeology teams will be highly visible at times and will use JCBs or rubber-tracked vehicles to start the trench excavation process. For more information, visit our website www.tritonknoll.co.uk
(2) Partnership
Triton Knoll is a joint venture partnership between Innogy Renewables UK Ltd (50% share) and Statkraft (50% share).
About Statkraft
Statkraft is a leading company in hydropower internationally and Europe’s largest generator of renewable energy. The Group produces hydropower, wind power, gas-fired power and district heating and is a global player in energy market operations. Statkraft has 3800 employees in more than 20 countries.
Since 2006, Statkraft has invested £1.4 billion in the UK’s renewable energy infrastructure and provided 2.5 GW of renewable energy Power Purchase Agreements (PPA’s)
For further information about Statkraft visit www.statkraft.com
About innogy SE
innogy SE is Germany’s leading energy company, with revenue of around €44 billion (2016), more than 40,000 employees and activities in 16 countries across Europe. With its three business segments Grid & Infrastructure, Retail and Renewables, innogy addresses the requirements of a modern, decarbonised, decentralised and digital energy world. Its activities focus on its
23 million customers, and on offering them innovative and sustainable products and services which enable them to use energy more efficiently and improve their quality of life. The key markets are Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as several countries in Central Eastern and South Eastern Europe, especially the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. In renewable power generation, the company is also active in other regions, e.g. Spain, Italy and the MENA region (Middle East, North Africa), with a total capacity of 3.7 gigawatts. As a leader of innovation in future-oriented fields like eMobility, we are represented in the international hot-spots of the technology industry such as Silicon Valley, Tel Aviv, London and Berlin. We combine the extensive expertise of our energy technicians and engineers with digital technology partners, from start-ups to major corporates. With planned capital investments of around €6.5- €7.0 billion (2017-2019), we are building the power market of the future and driving forward the transformation of the energy market.
innogy was formed from the restructuring of the RWE Group and started operations on 1 April 2016. Its IPO in October 2016 made innogy SE Germany’s most valuable energy company.
innogy is colourful, flexible and full of energy – let’s innogize!
Renewables
With an installed capacity of more than 900 megawatts in offshore wind and with over 1900 megawatts in onshore wind, innogy is one of the major operators in Europe. We plan, build and operate plants to generate power and extract energy from renewable sources. Our aim is to take the expansion of renewables in Europe further in the short term, both on our own and working with partners. We believe that working together in this way is the key to making the energy transition a success. Currently, we are particularly strongly represented in our home market, Germany, followed by the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands and Poland. At the moment we are focusing on continuing to expand our activities in onshore and offshore wind power. We are also looking at entering new markets and technologies, such as large-scale photovoltaic plants.
Further information: www.innogy.com
(3) Energy Generation
Energy predicted to be generated by the Triton Knoll proposal is derived using long term wind speeds calculated by meteorological models seeded with historical weather data obtained from satellite, surface-based and airborne measurement systems. The energy capture predicted and hence derived homes equivalent or emissions savings figures may change as further data are gathered. Equivalent homes supplied is based on an annual electricity consumption per home of 4500 kWh. This figure is supported by recent domestic electricity consumption data available from The Digest of UK Energy Statistics and household estimates and projections from the UK Statistics Authority.)
Consents
In July 2013, the Secretary of State granted consent for the offshore array element of the project (turbines, offshore substations, inter array cables etc). In September 2016, the Secretary of State also granted a Development Consent Order (DCO) for the Electrical System (ES) which connects the power generated from the offshore array into the national grid onshore. The ES consent includes the offshore export cable, the onshore underground export cable, an intermediate electrical compound at Orby, and a new substation at Bicker Fen, ultimately ensuring the delivery of energy potentially into an anticipated 800,000 UK homes once the wind farm is fully operational.