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Benefits

The Rampion Offshore Wind Farm provides a significant amount of power from a clean, green, renewable energy source while contributing benefits to the fight against climate change.

Every unit of electricity generated from the wind saves a unit generated from fossil fuels, therefore reducing emissions of greenhouse gases as well as the UK’s reliance on international supplies of coal, gas and oil.

Rampion’s 400MW of installed electrical capacity generates 1,366 GWh* (gigawatt hours) of power output each year from a clean, renewable energy source.

The power supplies the equivalent of up to 350,000 homes** each year for the lifetime of the project, that is equal to more than four in every 10 homes in the whole of Sussex, including Brighton & Hove.***

We estimate that the project could avoid the emission of almost 600,000 tonnes**** CO2 per year (587,000 tonnes).  We know this because electricity generation and demand is actively balanced, every minute of every day by National Grid, to ensure that supply and demand are always precisely matched.

Since wind energy is accepted onto the grid as and when it is generated, conventional generators are required to reduce their generation and in turn, the amount of fuel and CO2 released. Therefore we can calculate how much CO2 would have been emitted from the fossil fuel generators displaced.

 

* Calculated by multiplying the installed capacity in MW by the number of hours in a year (8760) and then multiplying this by the assumed capacity factor wind (39%) expressed as a fraction of 1 (i.e. by 0.39). Generation: 400MW x 0.39 x 8760 x 1,000 = 1,366,560,000 KWh ** Based on an average annual domestic household electricity consumption of 3,938kWh (BEIS) *** Office National Statistics Census data 2011 **** Every unit (kWh) of electricity produced by the wind displaces a unit of electricity, which would otherwise have been produced by a power station burning fossil fuel. This is a generally accepted fact used by many organisations including Government in their environmental calculations. Wind-generated electricity does not replace electricity from nuclear power stations because these operate at ‘base load’, that is they will be working for the whole time that they are available. The calculation is made using a static figure of 430g CO2/kWh representing the energy mix in the UK.

Consent

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The Rampion Offshore Wind Farm Order was granted on 16 July 2014.

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Environmental

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Environmental surveys have been integral to the development and construction of the wind farm.

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Environmental Statement

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