Diss firm takes leading role in huge offshore wind farm project

A Diss firm which specialises in unexploded ordnance clearance, has been hired to advise developers building a huge new offshore wind farm.

“This is an extremely complex project as the area we are investigating is a site bigger than the city of Manchester,” said Lee Gooderham, a director of Ordtek.

The area of seabed which the firm is surveying for innology’s Triton Knoll windfarm is 32km – almost 20 miles – off the Lincolnshire coast.

Ordtek, which has offices in Owen Road, was previously involved in similar work for the Galloper offshore windfarm south of the Triton Knoll project.

The latest work has involved trawling the military history of the area for references to sea battles, bombing and munition-dumping sites, as well as a geophysical interpretation of the seabed, to target likely unexploded ordnance.

The targets will be investigated and cleared by the UK-based James Fisher Marine Services with Ordtek providing consultancy throughout the operation.

Mr Gooderham added: “We are really pleased to be working with innology again. Its commitment to investigating, identifying and disposing of these potential risks shows extreme diligence.

“It is another example of how our expertise can be used to support renewable energy developers in the safe and and efficient construction of offshore wind farms.”

Julian Garnsey, the project director for Triton Knoll, said: “ I’m very pleased to be able to welcome Ordtek to the project as we continue to gear up for offshore construction in early 2020.

“Successful offshore site clearance is very important to our being able to deliver this nationally significant infrastructure project safely and on time,

“It is, therefore, great to see that a regional company is at the heart of this work and able to demonstrate the kind of expertise that makes the UK a world leader in offshore wind delivery.”

Triton Knoll is the biggest offshore wind farm currently under construction by innology.

When it is completed, it will consist of 90 of the world’s most powerful turbines, two sub-stations and more than 100km of cabling. It will be capable of generating enough energy for the equivalent of 800,000 typical UK households, the developers say.