Red River Archaeology facilitating the growth of renewable energy

By Dave Gilbert

During the Covid-19 pandemic it has been encouraging to hear that there is still the determination and political will of governments across the world to maintain their climate ambitions. The clear message that accelerating the move to a low-carbon economy can both drive economic recovery and build resilience for the future has popular support.
 
The UK Government’s “Build Back Greener” announcement places wind firmly at the centre of the UK’s green recovery and 2050 net zero target. The Prime Minister’s pledge that wind will be the backbone of the UK’s electricity system by 2030, is not only a boost to curbing climate change, but will also see an estimated £50 billion of investment.

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The infrastructural necessary to push the UK’s wind energy capacity also brings with it a requirement to address a number of environmental issues including a need for archaeological investigation. Such investigations are not restricted to concerns of buried remains, but also impacts to historic buildings and standing monuments.
 
Due to issues of noise and visual amenity, a wind farm’s location is often in remote, open areas of land or sited offshore. Such environments are areas where Red River Archaeology have considerable expertise, having worked on the UK’s largest onshore and second largest offshore complexes as well as numerous smaller facilities across the country as well as the first electricity interconnector built between Britain and Ireland.
 
Getting the right expert advice during initial planning is critical. Red River Archaeology have worked closely with clients, planners, and statutory bodies to ensure that the design avoided and mitigated any heritage impact. The Red River team are experienced in identifying alternative approaches that can lead to improvements in the planning and design of development proposals so that they maximise the benefits of the scheme, while also closely cooperating with other project teams to enhance visual impact studies and avoid environmental damage from archaeological activities.

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the answer my friend is blowing in the wind … so see Red for a Green future