The UK government has awarded a Development Consent Order for the Rampion 2 offshore wind project, which is being developed off the Sussex coast, England, with a capacity of 1.0 to 1.2 GW.
Development of the project, an extension to the existing 400 MW Rampion wind farm nearby, is being led by RWE, shareholding 50.1%, on behalf of joint venture partners, a Macquarie-led consortium (50 %) and a subsidiary of Enbridge Inc, a prominent North American energy infrastructure company, which will hold 24.9%
Rampion 2 is planned to comprise up to 90 wind turbines and foundations and up to three offshore substations. Subsea cables will bring the power to shore under Climping Beach. An underground cable route will take the power to a new substation at Oakendene, before finally connecting into the transmission network at Bolney, in mid Sussex.
The project is eligible for submission into a future Contract for Difference (CfD) auction. A key milestone will be the Financial Investment Decision (FID) by the Joint Venture partners, after which construction would be able to start. The wind farm is expected to be operational by the end of the decade.
Including three Norfolk offshore wind projects and the Rampion 2 project, RWE is developing nine offshore wind projects in the UK, representing a combined potential generation capacity of around 10.5 GW, with RWE’s pro rata share amounting to 7.5 GW. RWE’s track record of more than 20 years in offshore wind has resulted in a total of 19 offshore wind farms in operation.
