Development

The Consenting Process

Rampion 2 is classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) because of its capacity to deliver large amounts of electricity. The process for gaining consent to develop major offshore wind farms is set in legislation.

National planning policies set out what documents and evidence Rampion 2 need to submit. There are stringent rules on how to consult stakeholders about the project. There is a formal process that the application and decision making must follow. The owners of Rampion 2 must apply for a Development Consent Order (DCO) to the Planning Inspectorate and the DCO application is then assessed and determined under the Planning Act 2008.

The DCO application for Rampion 2 was submitted in August 2023 and accepted for examination by the Planning Inspectorate, in September 2023.

The Planning Inspectorate has appointed an independent Examining Authority to rigorously examine the application. At the end of the examination, the Independent Examining Authority will make a recommendation to the Government’s ‘Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy’. The Secretary of State will then review the application, and decide on whether to grant a Development Consent Order.

*For more information on this process please see the Planning Inspectorate’s website.

rampion2-development-aerial-wind-farm

Project Timeline

Some species need to be monitored for 2 years to gather sufficient data to understand their use of the region.
2019

The Crown Estate, who own the sea bed, announce the Agreements for Lease.
2020 Summer/Autumn

Detailed design process for the project commences. Informal feedback starts getting gathered from local stakeholders, leading to the Early Consultation in January 2021.

2020 September

This consultation is a formal requirement of the planning process. Preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment will be available to inform consultees.

2021 Summer*

The application for ‘Development Consent Order’ to build, operate and decommission project will be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate.

2021 Winter / 2022 Spring*

The Secretary of State for Energy will make their decision, carefully considering the recommendations of the Planning Inspectorate.

2022 / 2023*

Earliest timeframe for the building and installation of the wind farm and related electrical infrastructure.

Mid 2020's*

Once the wind farm is up and running, it will meet the electricity needs of up to 1 million UK homes each year.

Late 2020's*

The expected working lifespan of a wind turbine is around 30 years. The planning consent applied for covers this period.
A decision needs to be made at this point to either decommission, extend the consent for the existing infrastructure, or apply for a new project. If decommissioned, there will be no visible trace of the wind farm ever having been there!

30+ years later...
Some species need to be monitored for 2 years to gather sufficient data to understand their use of the region.

The Crown Estate, who own the sea bed, announce the Agreements for Lease.

Detailed design process for the project commences. Informal feedback starts getting gathered from local stakeholders, leading to the Early Consultation in January 2021.

This consultation is a formal requirement of the planning process. Preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment will be available to inform consultees.

The application for ‘Development Consent Order’ to build, operate and decommission project will be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate.

The Secretary of State for Energy will make their decision, carefully considering the recommendations of the Planning Inspectorate.

Earliest timeframe for the building and installation of the wind farm and related electrical infrastructure.

Once the wind farm is up and running, it will meet the electricity needs of up to 1 million UK homes each year.

The expected working lifespan of a wind turbine is around 30 years. The planning consent applied for covers this period.
A decision needs to be made at this point to either decommission, extend the consent for the existing infrastructure, or apply for a new project. If decommissioned, there will be no visible trace of the wind farm ever having been there!

*estimated timescales. Factors outside of our control may impact our timeline.

Being a good neighbour

Our aim is to build on our existing relationships from the original Rampion project, while also reaching new communities who weren’t so involved the first time around, to remain a long-term, good neighbour of the Sussex community.

  • We are committed to being a good neighbour. We have consulted the Sussex community and stakeholders over a two and a half year period, each time considering how to accommodate the feedback as we continued to develop our proposals.
  • We will develop our construction and operation method plans bearing in mind the sensitivities of local residents, those working in the area, visitors and those enjoying the South Downs and beaches for leisure, landowners, fishing and maritime industries.
  • We will develop a community benefit package in due course and will provide updates on our website in the future.
  • We hope to deliver new skills, careers and education initiatives once we secure finances to build the project.
engineers dig dirt at site of Rampion underground cables

Environmental Impact Assessment

An Environmental Impact Assessment has been undertaken to ensure any potential significant environmental effects that may arise as a result of the construction, operation and decommissioning of the proposed project are properly understood. The results of the full Environmental Impact Assessment are included within the comprehensive Environmental Statement produced to support the application for development consent. The findings of the assessments will influence the construction methods that we use and the technical design of the project so that the benefits of Rampion 2 are optimised and any negative effects are minimised.

We carried out surveys including those listed, to understand the local:

  • Onshore ecology
  • Marine life
  • Archaeology
  • Landscape
  • Fisheries and other marine industries
  • Shipping and Navigation

The reports below will be of interest to anyone looking to understand the details on our impact assessments.

This sets out potential impacts and mitigations, and is available as part of our Development Consent Order (DCO) application.  You can view the Non-Technical Summary or the Introduction to the Environmental Statement  which includes contents of all 31 chapters on the Rampion page of the Planning Inspectorate website.

This will be available later in 2021.

The formal Community Consultation will be based on the Preliminary Environmental Information Report, which will present the preliminary findings of the Environmental Impact Assessment. The information will be presented in various forms to support the consultation.

A further document that may be of interest to members of the Community is the Rampion 2 ‘Scoping Report’.

Rampion 2 submitted a Scoping Report to the Secretary of State in July 2020, seeking an opinion as to the scope and level of detail of the assessment to be undertaken for Environmental Impact Assessment.  Following consultation with statutory consultees, the Secretary of State provided their Scoping Opinion in August 2020.  

The Environmental Impact Assessment is being carried out in accordance with the Scoping Opinion.

The Scoping Report is available at:
https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/wp-content/ipc/uploads/projects/EN010117/EN010117-000006-EN010117%20-%20Scoping%20Report.pdf

The Secretary of State’s opinion was published in August 2020 and is available at: https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/wp-content/ipc/uploads/projects/EN010117/EN010117-000045-EN010117%20Scoping%20Opinion.pdf

young lady conducts Rampion 2 environmental assessment

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