September 11, 2018 1.04 pm This story is over 66 months old

Triton Knoll starts onshore wind farm work

Work on the onshore substation will start in 2019
Photo: Phil Manley, Project Director for Siemens Transmission & Distribution; Julian Garnsey, Project Director Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm; John Murphy, CEO J Murphy & Sons Ltd. Photo: Triton Knoll

Triton Knoll has officially started onshore construction in Grimsby this week with work on the electrical system to transport power from the wind farm to over 800,000 UK homes.

As previously reported, Triton Knoll agreed a deal with Able UK’s Seaton Port to use its facility in Grimsby as the wind farm’s long-term operations and maintenance base.

The port activity involving all partners could create around 100 new and predominantly local jobs and unlock over £16 million investment in new infrastructure and equipment.

The official ‘breaking-of-ground’ took place directly on the route of the new high voltage underground export cable, and located at the main onshore cable site offices off the A16 near Stickney.

Work on the new onshore substation will start early in 2019, with Siemens constructing a new facility close to the existing electrical substation near Bicker.

Work is already underway to construct a new bellmouth entry point and 3.8km access road to the new substation construction site to ensure that construction traffic can avoid use of smaller local roads.

UK firms J Murphy & Sons Ltd and Siemens Transmission and Distribution Ltd (STDL) have been contracted to build the project, and are already carrying out initial works including the establishment of site offices, temporary construction compounds and bell-mouths at key points along the route.

Over 300 individual directional drills – a record for a UK infrastructure projet – will ensure the onshore cables can be installed without obstructing any roads, highways, rivers or drains.

The onshore construction presents some significant engineering challenges as Triton Knoll installs over 57km of underground electrical export cable below ground in Lincolnshire.

Triton Knoll project director Julian Garnsey was joined by Murphy CEO John Murphy, and STDL’s Project Director Phil Manley, to officially cut the turf on the onshore cable route.

Julian said: “Triton Knoll construction is officially up and running. This moment is the culmination of years of planning, engineering, consultation, and cooperation with our supply chain and stakeholders to produce a state of the art wind farm , which benefits both local and regional economies.

“Triton Knoll is committed to supporting local and regional jobs, skills development and, through our investments, the further strengthening of the UK’s already world-beating offshore industry.

“As we continue to progress through the weeks and months ahead, we and all our contractors look forward to working even more closely with our neighbouring communities, so that local people are aware of our works and how they are progressing.”

 

SUBSCRIBE to Business Week, the new email newsletter from The Lincolnite and Lincolnshire Reporter, bringing you weekly features, analysis and a news roundup of the top stories by Stonebow Media. Sign up free to receive it every Thursday morning in your inbox. We won’t spam you or share your details with third parties, we promise