Rampion

Rampion Offshore Wind Farm Profile

Location and Site Details

• The Rampion Offshore Wind Farm is located in the English Channel, between 13 and 20 kilometres off the Sussex coast in south-east England.
• It spans an area of approximately 72 square kilometres, comparable in size to the island of Guernsey.

Turbines and Capacity

• The wind farm consists of 116 Vestas V112-3.45MW wind turbines, each with a capacity of 3.45MW. The turbines have a hub height of 84 metres and a total height to blade tip of 140 metres.
• The installed capacity of the wind farm is 400 megawatts (MW), and it is expected to generate around 1.1 terawatt-hours (TWh) or 1,400 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity per year.

Energy Production and Impact

• The wind farm generates enough green electricity to power the equivalent of around 350,000 UK homes, which is approximately half of the homes in Sussex.
• This significant energy production contributes to reducing carbon emissions and supports the UK's renewable energy targets.

Ownership and Operation

• The wind farm is jointly owned by three companies: RWE (50.1%), UK Green Investment Bank (25%), and Enbridge (24.9%).
• EON is responsible for the construction, operations, and maintenance, as well as energy management services for the wind farm.
• The operation and maintenance of the wind farm are carried out from a purpose-built base at Newhaven Port.

Construction and Timeline

• The project was awarded the exclusive development rights by The Crown Estate in January 2010, and it received approval from the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in July 2014.
• Onshore construction began in June 2015, and the installation of turbine foundations started in January 2016. The offshore construction was completed in 2018.

Environmental and Community Considerations

• Prior to construction, a comprehensive suite of environmental surveys was conducted, including bird, fish, and ecology surveys, archaeology, navigational, socio-economic surveys, and traffic impact assessments.
• The wind farm has created around 60 full-time permanent jobs and has acted as a catalyst for the regeneration of the Newhaven Port area.
• A Community Benefit Fund was launched in 2017, managed by the Sussex Community Foundation, to provide financial support to local community projects.

Infrastructure and Connectivity

• The wind farm includes an offshore substation and an export cable path. The power is transmitted to the national grid via an onshore substation at Bolney in Mid Sussex.
• The onshore cabling works were completed by the end of 2016, and the wind farm is connected to the National Grid’s substation at Bolney.

Rampion 2 Expansion

Overview

• Rampion 2 is a proposed extension to the existing Rampion Offshore Wind Farm, designed to further increase the UK's offshore wind capacity.

Location and Site Details

• The proposed Rampion 2 wind farm will be located adjacent to and extending west and south of the existing Rampion Offshore Wind Farm, at a minimum distance of approximately 13 kilometres from the Sussex coast.

Turbines and Capacity

• Rampion 2 will consist of up to 90 wind turbines and associated infrastructure, including inter-array cables and offshore substations. The turbines will be no taller than the maximum blade tip height assessed and will not be closer to the shore than the existing turbines.
• The wind farm is expected to power the equivalent of over 1 million homes.

Construction and Timeline

• The Development Consent Order (DCO) application for Rampion 2 has been accepted for examination by the Planning Inspectorate, with a decision expected in early 2025. If approved, construction could start in 2027, and the wind farm is expected to be fully operational by the end of the decade.

Environmental and Regulatory Considerations

• The project includes a full Environmental Statement and Non-Technical Summary, which can be viewed on the Planning Inspectorate website. The construction will comply with Management Plans to ensure adherence to DCO requirements.
• The project aims to help meet the UK’s target for a significant increase in offshore wind capacity by 2030.

Connectivity and Infrastructure

• The power from Rampion 2 will be transmitted to the national grid via an underground onshore cable route approximately 38.8 kilometres long from the landfall at Climping to a new onshore substation at Oakendene, 2 kilometres east of Cowfold.
• The connection to the National Grid will be at the Bolney National Grid Substation.