Energy projects near Boston team up to re-use 8,800 tonnes of stone in boon for environment and motorist

About 8,800 tonnes of stone (enough to fill almost three Olympic-sized swimming pools), previously used to build a temporary access road and site accommodation for the Triton Knoll onshore substation works at Donington, will be moved to the National Grid Viking Link interconnector project at nearby Bicker Fen.

Triton Knoll is on offshore wind farm being constructed by RWE Renewables; the Viking Link is a joint venture between National Grid Ventures, part of National Grid, and the Danish electricity system owner and operator, Energinet, to bring renewable energy from Denmark to the UK.

Both will be taking advantage of the National Grid substation at Bicker Fen.

The initiative will save more than 58 tonnes of CO2 in total, the equivalent of the CO2 generated by heating 20 homes for one year. The saving has been achieved through diverting the used aggregate from landfill, and reducing the amount of new aggregate the Viking Link project will need to source meaning 675 additional lorry trips to and from each site will be avoided in total.

The aggregate will be used to build an access road on Viking Link for the high voltage cabling works and converter station civil works.

Mark Pilling, head of large transmission solutions at Siemens Energy, said: “We are committed to most efficient use of materials throughout the supply chain, to keep materials circulating and ensuring resources can be can be recovered and reused, eliminating waste. I am delighted to see such an inventive solution agreed between our customers.

“Not only will reusing this material save CO2 from the quarrying process by reducing the amount of new aggregate we would need to source, but through reducing the impact of construction traffic by more than 14,000 miles and around 675 lorry trips, air quality in the area will also be improved.”

Mike Elmer, project director at Viking Link said: “We are really pleased to be able to work with Siemens Energy and recycle the stone from Triton Knoll for our Viking Link project. It not only reduces our carbon output but also minimises disruption for local residents. We will continue to look for other ways to reduce our carbon emissions wherever possible throughout the construction of Viking Link.”

Julian Garnsey, project director for Triton Knoll and RWE, said: “We are committed to reducing emissions and contributing towards sustainable development. Taking the time to consider sustainable solutions to business challenges is environmentally beneficial, and often also makes social and commercial sense. Collaborating with Siemens Energy and National Grid to reuse material from the Triton Knoll construction in another local project is a great example of this.“