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Alford company makes it three years and counting at wind farm
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Engagement with landowners is critical, says firm
Lincolnshire firm Land Drainage Services Ltd (LDS) has been awarded a key contract extension by Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm, to provide a long term trusted liaison service between the project and it’s local landowners.
The contract is a real boost for the small Alford-based company, and essential to balancing the needs and interests of both Triton Knoll and its land owners, as it prepares for the future installation of the wind farm’s underground export cable and infrastructure.
Triton Knoll project director James Cotter said: “We’re delighted to be able to award this contract to a local Lincolnshire company, and to be able to demonstrate our commitment to maximising the significant investment potential of the project for local firms.
“Land Drainage Services has demonstrated a real understanding of the project and the importance of putting land owners first, and has forged a positive and trusted reputation with local landowners. This is an important role representing the project on the ground, and we feel confident LDS will continue to deliver this to the best of their abilities.”
Triton Knoll has consent to install almost 60 kilometres of onshore underground export cable, an intermediate electrical compound at Orby, and a new substation at Bicker Fen, ensuring the delivery of energy generated at the wind farm to an anticipated 800,000 UK homes(1). During the preparation for construction and into the work itself, the project will need to continually liaise with well over 120 separate landowners and occupiers.
LDS is a design consultancy specialising in agricultural drainage and land owner relations, and has been in operation for over 40 years. With their team and associates, the company has worked with major utilities in the gas, water and wind farm sectors across the country including several large infrastructure projects, forging and protecting relations between projects and the respective landowners.
LDS’s Neil Whitehe
ad has been working with Triton Knoll since 2015, and has built a trusted relationship with landowners locally, many of which he already knows. He will remain a key contact for landowners throughout the project’s delivery.
He said: “Triton Knoll is a great project for us. For a major renewable energy project of this size, in a location like this, local knowledge of the land and the involved landowners is paramount.
“It’s so important, in these early stages to get relationships right. While this is a small farming community, it’s also a significant agribusiness area and has highly productive agricultural land, so ensuring that everyone knows what’s happening and when, and can have access to us 24-7 is highly important. We’re really pleased to be able to continue our work with Triton Knoll and we look forward to supporting the project throughout its work across the local farming communities.”
Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm will be located approximately 32km off the Lincolnshire coast and 50km off the coast of North Norfolk. With a capacity of up to 900MW, the wind farm has the potential to power up to 800,000(1) UK homes once fully operational. Triton Knoll is being developed as a joint venture between Innogy Renewables UK Ltd (innogy) (50%) and Statkraft (50%), with innogy managing the project on behalf of the partnership(2).
The project is continuing to progress well through the latter stages of development, having secured consent for the offshore array in July 2013 and the electrical system in September 2016(3). It has already undertaken onshore and offshore site investigation works. This will enable the project to complete detailed design work in preparation for progress into construction. There are still a number of key stages for the project to complete, including a successful Final Investment Decision, after which onshore construction could then begin.
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: mark.fleming@tritonknoll.co.uk
Editors notes
(1) 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.)
(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) Consent
In July 2013, the Secretary of State granted consent for the project’s offshore wind turbines. In September 2016, the Secretary of State also granted a Development Consent Order (DCO) for the Electrical System (ES) which connects the offshore wind turbines 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.