In January 2021, Rampion beat their power generation target for 2020 by 15%
Take a trip to the Rampion Visitor Centre to discover how much electricity Rampion is generating today!
The onshore cable route has successfully reinstated from the coast, across the South Downs and through the weald to the onshore substation in Twineham, Mid Sussex.
See the Cable Route Reinstatement Video and Fact Sheet 6 at rampion2.com/consultation to see the cable route before, during and after construction.
Anecdotal evidence shows that offshore wind farms, and in fact any structure that is placed
in the marine environment, attracts vegetation growth and micro-marine life, which in turn can attract greater diversity and numbers of marine life. The benefit is difficult to quantify and current research is limited, given the fact that it is not possible to control which species, indigenous or non-indigenous, colonise the turbine foundations.
These photographs show the vegetation growth and marine wildlife, which had already colonised the turbine foundations by July 2019, around three years after they were installed. If you look closely, you can see the metal foundations and ‘J’ tubes (which carry the cables from the base of the foundation under the seabed) in some small areas yet to be colonised.
In Rampion’s early days, occasional concerns were raised that perhaps a wind farm might not suit tourist hotspots on the Sussex coast, with Brighton alone attracting over 12million visitors each year. There is no evidence that onshore or offshore wind farms deter tourism and only anecdotal evidence to suggest the contrary, that people enjoy visiting wind turbines and wind farms to marvel at the engineering and the clean, green power being generated by nature.
Since Rampion has become a reality on the horizon it is being recognised as a major landmark as the first and only wind farm off the UK’s south coast. Since becoming fully operational in 2018, local boats have been chartered to take visitors out to see the wind farm – Rampion has become a tourist attraction!
For those who are unable to make it offshore, you can take a virtual trip to Rampion and climb atop the turbine at our Rampion Visitor Centre in Brighton!
In 2010, an independent survey was commissioned to gauge the feeling of the Sussex community to the prospect of a wind
farm off the Sussex coast.
In 2019, the survey was carried out again when the turbines had been up and running for 18 months and the rating had increased.
In November 2017, Rampion made a £100,000 charitable donation to local RNLI stations and announced a £3.1million Rampion Community Fund.
Managed by the Sussex Community Foundation, a locally based charity, the Rampion Fund supports community projects across Sussex, particularly those with links to the environment, renewable energy and climate change.
The Fund has already supported 114 different projects, worth a total of over £1.6 million in grants since 2018, benefiting almost one million people in the Sussex community.
There have been some impressive stories of the positive impact grants have made in the fight against climate change, renewable energy and other sustainable solutions.
The Rampion Fund has played a major role in the charity, ‘Care for Veterans’ sustainability plans, with a grant to help install solar power. This in turn will reduce their annual energy bills and protect valuable funds for the charity’s intended purpose.
Community Transport Sussex is there for those with mobility problems or difficulty accessing public transport. The charity benefited from fully accessible, electric minibuses, protecting the future of their fleet while saving carbon emissions, too.
See the Rampion Fund Report 2020 here www.sussexgiving.org.uk/rampion or take a trip to the Rampion Visitor Centre to find out more about the projects we have supported.
Caroline Lucas MP, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, was the first visitor to the Rampion Visitor Centre, located in six newly-refurbished arches neighbouring Brighton’s West Pier Pillars and facing the Rampion Offshore Wind Farm.
Dozens of displays and interactive exhibits have been designed to inform children and adults in a fun and exciting way. It offers the Sussex community and Brighton’s 12 million annual visitors a free museum, bringing to life the story of human settlement, technological advancement and population growth, alongside climate change, renewable energy and the construction of Rampion.
A huge interactive globe is the centre piece of the Visitor Centre, showing the impact people have had on the planet, visualising population growth and the recent impact of the greenhouse effect as well as what the future could hold.
Other features include an exciting virtual reality experience taking you out to the wind farm, climbing up and standing on top of a turbine.
Interactive games and video kiosks allow visitors to explore the development, construction and operation of Rampion and visitors can also enjoy interactive exhibits showing how energy is made and how wind energy works.
The Visitor Centre is open with facilities in place to ensure strict compliance with all requirements in relation to the coronavirus.
To find out more details, including a photo and video gallery, visit www.rampionoffshore.com
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