Triton Knoll has begun an archaeological trial trenching campaign which will cover the full route of the onshore export cable corridor in Lincolnshire.
The campaign started on Monday, 31 July, the developer of the 900MW offshore wind farm said. The works are being carried out by the Lincoln-based Allen Archaeology.
The proposed onshore export cable route is almost 60 kilometers in length and runs from the landfall location at Anderby Creek, through to Bicker Fen where the power generated by the offshore wind farm will ultimately connect into the national grid network.
The campaign also includes the landfall location, the onshore substation and the intermediate electrical compound sites.
It will involve digging around 300 trenches of approximately 2m wide by 30-50m long. These pre-construction investigations do not indicate the start of onshore construction activity and are required for archaeological purposes only, Triton Knoll said.
These works are required to ensure any sensitive archaeological sites are identified and discussed with agreed statutory Heritage consultees and the Lincolnshire County Archaeologist.
The Triton Knoll wind farm will be located approximately 32km off the Lincolnshire coast and 50km off the coast of North Norfolk. The wind farm 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.
Onshore construction is expected to start in mid-2018, subject to the final investment decision.