TNEI was commissioned to undertake soil resistivity measurements on the site of a 94MW onshore wind farm. The site is located in the Scottish Highlands, a few kilometres to the west of the Cairn Gorm National Park. The site work was a collaboration between the PST and P&E teams and from each of the three TNEI UK offices: Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow.
The area of the site is approximately 40km2 with the highest point being upwards of 800m above sea level. Unexpectedly, the enabling works throughout the site were partially completed at the time of our visit. This meant that significant trekking throughout the mountains with measurement equipment was necessary, on average 9km daily. Navigational skills rather than power system engineering expertises were of paramount importance not only because of the unmarked areas of interest but also because of the extremes of weather conditions. The weather ranged from sunny clear days to foggy low visibility days. Consequently, maps, compasses and a GPS were essential in executing and completing the task within the promised timescales.
Such a walk on the wild side culminated in the supply of site specific soil data to the design of the wind farm’s earthing system, a task which is also being undertaken by TNEI’s PST team.
