Further Developments – ‘Rampion 2′

RWE Renewables and its partners are working on initial proposals for expansion to the wind farm at Rampion.

The project is at the early development stage. The exact design of the project is still to be determined while we undertake the necessary development and consenting activities.

The plan below shows the offshore ‘Area of Search’ which is the blue hatched area, within which we are conducting environmental and technical surveys to identify the best design for the development. The boundary of the existing Rampion Offshore Wind Farm is shown in red. We intend to engage and consult with authorities, stakeholders and communities in the coming months, in order to refine our proposals.

The Area of Search has been broadly defined in order to give flexibility to respond to consultation feedback, constraints and sensitivities and to shape a prospective future expansion to the Rampion wind farm. An onshore route corridor has also been identified for the cabling which would be necessary to connect to the national electrical grid.

What is the current ‘Scoping’ stage of development?

In July 2020 the project submitted a ‘Scoping Request’ to the Planning Inspectorate.

The purpose of this Scoping process is to set out the broad envelope of what the project could be and seek formal confirmation of what needs to be surveyed and assessed. The Planning Inspectorate invites input from statutory bodies, consultees and other key stakeholders on what sensitivities and constraints need to be taken into account and this helps inform the scope and detail of Environmental Impact Assessment which will be required to be carried out. The feedback from Scoping then enables us to do further assessment, before we then share specific proposals together with preliminary assessment.

Further details and the formal Scoping Report can be found here

Why are we considering expansion at Rampion?

Offshore wind is one of the most cost-effective means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and the UK Government has identified it as a key solution. The Government has set a target to deliver over a third of UK electricity from Offshore Wind by 2030, up from 10% today.

Rampion 2 can make a significant contribution towards this goal. We believe there is potential for the area to make further important contribution to clean sustainable energy supplies. Rampion is the only offshore wind farm off the south coast of England where much of the electricity demand is. In 2018 we commissioned the polling organisation Populus to carry out a public opinion survey following construction of the original Rampion offshore wind farm. Post-construction showed 85% support for Rampion compared to 80% in a similar survey carried out nearly 10 years ago, when the Rampion project was in the early stage of development.

What is the timeline?

The next stage following Scoping is for us to engage with local stakeholders and communities – we expect to do this later in 2020. Further information and updates will be provided in due course.
We will take initial feedback into account in shaping specific proposals which we would hope to present and conduct formal consultation on, in 2021.
The indicative timeline for any expansion to Rampion – subject to gaining planning consent in due course – would be at least 2025 onwards.

Contact
Keep an eye on this website and local press for details of when you can get involved or email the team to register for updates: rampion2@rwe.com
If you want to learn more about the consenting process, you can visit the Planning Inspectorate’s website here.