This week the Bournemouth Archaeology team, all kitted out in our new branded polo shirts, attended the RegenSW Bournemouth Renewable Energy Marketplace at Bournemouth’s International Centre, the biggest renewable energy exhibition and conference in south England.

Like any development, the construction of renewable energy infrastructure can be impacted on by the presence of archaeology, so we appreciated the opportunity to network with some of the biggest renewable energy providers in the UK, and explain how we can use our expertise to both reduce risk and avoid unnecessary cost to their projects.

Our team manned a stand and answered enquiries regarding the need to consider the impact of extant archaeology for proposed renewable energy development projects. Having provided pre-planning advice to our clients and undertaken a number of mitigation projects, we have developed a thorough understanding of the importance of considering heritage when it comes to planning these developments.

We have provided advice to clients on retrofitting renewable energy systems to their historic and listed buildings and potential impact on historic fabric. We have also provided pre-planning advice to clients who are looking to develop land for large ground-mounted solar photovoltaic systems and wind farms, and carried out geophysical surveys, evaluations, excavations and watching briefs to help them reduce their risk and reduce their costs in dealing with archaeological and heritage issues. One such project we have worked on this year was covered in an earlier blog post.

Bournemouth archaeology is always actively seeking to partner with renewable energy consultancies and providers to deliver heritage advice in the early planning stages of projects and thereby ensure that the highest levels of heritage protection and mitigation can be achieved.  The RegenSW Bournemouth Renewable Energy Marketplace was therefore a great opportunity to meet some new contacts in the exciting renewable energy sector, and our team thoroughly enjoyed talking to and learning from the other exhibitors and event visitors.

Thanks to all who attended and stopped by to ask us about our services. We look forward to hopefully working with some of you soon.