- Potential to supply over 1 million UK homes 1 with clean renewable electricity, reduce carbon emissions by around 1.8 million tonnes 2; per year and create green sector jobs and investment
- Assessing an Area of Search off the Sussex coast to identify a suitable site for up to 116 new wind turbines, and assess an onshore Area of Search to identify a route for underground cables to connect the power to the National Grid
- Formal public consultation on draft proposals in 2021 prior to submission of final proposals. If consent awarded, construction to begin 2025 at the earliest
A wind farm expansion project off the Sussex coast could create clean, renewable electricity to power over one million homes in the UK, reduce carbon emissions by around 1.8 million tonnes per year and create green sector jobs and investment.
Development and Stakeholder Manager for the project Chris Tomlinson said: “The UK leads the world in offshore wind and the government is committed to quadrupling our offshore wind capacity to 40 gigawatts (GW) by 2030. Offshore wind is now cheaper than gas, nuclear and coal and creates tens of thousands of jobs. Rampion 2 is an exciting opportunity to make a major contribution to this important target and tackle climate change.”
“The Rampion 2 team is assessing an ‘Area of Search’ of over 300km² to help inform and shape the preferred layout and scale of the wind farm and its associated cable route. This includes technical onshore and offshore surveys and studies as well as engaging with local community stakeholders, so that we can bring forward draft proposals for formal public consultation next year.”
The ultimate capacity of the project will be determined during the development and consenting process and the indicative timeline for starting construction would be 2025 at the earliest and subject to gaining development consent.
Chris Tomlinson continued, “Rampion is the only wind farm off the south coast of England and this densely populated region is where much of the electricity demand is concentrated. As we start the consultation process for Rampion 2, we are keen to work with local stakeholders, communities and businesses to further strengthen the relationships we’ve already built up in the area during the original Rampion project as well as working with many new communities.”
RWE, a Macquarie-led consortium (comprising Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5, the Green Investment Group and the Universities Superannuation Scheme) and Enbridge (a leading North American energy infrastructure company), together owners of the existing Rampion offshore wind farm, have established a new joint venture company and have signed an Agreement for Lease with The Crown Estate (managers of the seabed) securing an option to develop a project on the site. RWE is developing the project on behalf of the partners.
The development will build on the expertise and learnings from the original Rampion project to ensure best practice and maximise the positive environmental and economic benefits.
Rampion 2 team email contact: rampion2@rwe.com