The Rampion 2 Project Team has closed its final consultation and thanks the Sussex community for their input over the past three years, helping finalise the cable route to be included in the final submission to the Planning Inspectorate later this summer.
The Rampion 2 Offshore Wind Farm could generate up to 1,200 megawatts, enough to power the equivalent of over 1 million homes1. This means Rampion and Rampion 2 combined will be able to power the equivalent of all of the homes in Sussex twice over. An onshore cable route is required to bring the power from the coast to join the national electricity network at Bolney in Mid Sussex.
“We have further consulted on alternative cable route options, which were driven by public feedback combined with ongoing engineering and environmental assessments. Our goal throughout has been to identify a cable route which best meets the needs of local communities, wildlife and the environment, while providing an economic connection solution,” said Chris Tomlinson, Development & Stakeholder Manager, Rampion 2, RWE.
“The most significant of these alternatives was the cable route section from Lyminster to Sullington Hill. Having considered feedback from our consultations, the Eastern Route, also known as ‘Longer Alternative Cable Route 1’, has been selected for this part of the route.”
This was principally in order to protect ecology, avoiding the Warningcamp Hill and New Down Local Wildlife Site, and Ancient Woodland. It also reflects feedback raised during consultations with the villages of Crossbush, Burpham and Wepham.
At the northern end of the Eastern Route on the approach to Sullington Hill, an alternative option ‘1d’, consulted on in February and March this year, has been selected to reconnect to the original route at Sullington Hill, as it has less impact on businesses, affects fewer hedgerows and is a more direct route.
Continued Chris Tomlinson, “We know that prehistoric artefacts have been found on the South Downs before, so we will work with Historic England and local authorities to devise a system of archaeological investigation, as this could provide a rare and significant opportunity to find out more about how the South Downs were used in the past.”
Once installed, electricity cables will be buried underground. The Rampion 2 team is committed to reinstate the land back to its former condition as soon as possible after the works.
In other news, Rampion 2 can announce the results of a third2 public opinion survey in Sussex. The results show offshore wind is by far the most supported form of energy generation with 91 percent in support. The support for the Rampion Wind Farm rose from 80 percent in 2010 when it was an early proposal, to 85 percent in 2019 after the turbines had been in place for over two years. In the latest survey, when asked about the prospect of Rampion 2, there was 85 percent support for the project.
Should the project achieve consent, construction could start around 2026/27, with the wind farm fully operational before the end of the decade, helping meet the UK’s increased target for a five-fold increase in offshore wind capacity by 2030.
RWE is one of the globally leading renewables companies and is highly experienced in the development of large-scale offshore wind. It is seeking to develop Rampion 2 on behalf of a joint venture company including a Macquarie-led consortium and Enbridge Inc.
Media contact: Paula Seager, Natural PR, Email: paula@naturalpr.biz or Tel: 01273 857242
UK wind energy context:
The cost of offshore wind has halved in just two to three years and is now cheaper than nuclear and coal, while the industry is creating tens of thousands of jobs nationwide. The UK leads the world in offshore wind and the Government is committed to quadrupling offshore wind capacity to 50 gigawatts (GW) by 2030. Rampion 2 can make a major contribution to this target.
Rampion 2 Background:
Rampion 2 is being developed by RWE, one of the UK’s most established and experienced renewable energy producers and a global leader in offshore wind. It is developing the project on behalf of a joint venture company including a Macquarie-led consortium (comprising Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5, the Green Investment Group and the Universities Superannuation Scheme) and a subsidiary of Enbridge Inc. (a leading North American energy infrastructure company). Together with owners of the existing Rampion offshore Wind Farm they have signed an Agreement for Lease with The Crown Estate (managers of the seabed) securing an option to develop on the site.
References:
1 Based on an average annual domestic household electricity consumption of 3,618 kWh (BEIS, Dec 2019)
2 The Public Opinion Survey was carried out by independent polling organisation, Yonder – the new name for Populus, which carried out two previous surveys in 2010 and 2019. Yonder conducted telephone interviews on a sample size of 1001 adults aged 16+ across seven parliamentary constituencies: Lewes, Brighton Kempton, Brighton Pavilion, Hove, East Worthing & Shoreham, Worthing West, Bognor Regis & Littlehampton. The survey was conducted between 20th October and 17th November 2022. Quota and weights were employed to ensure sample is representative of the seven constituencies’ demographic make-up based on age, gender and location.