Rampion 2 has consulted on four occasions over a two-year period, during which a number of onshore cable route options have been considered.  The preferred route will take power from the landfall at Climping Beach to the connection point at Bolney National Grid Substation.

Our non-statutory consultation in January/February 2021 introduced an initial scoping boundary or ‘area of search’ for the onshore cable route.  Our statutory, project-wide consultation from July-September 2021 included a proposed cable route.  Having listened to feedback, we embarked on a second statutory consultation dedicated to potential onshore cable route alternatives, which ran in October/November 2022.  Having considered the response to this consultation, we ran one further consultation on the cable route, exploring a single short alternative known as ‘1d’.

The Rampion Team would like to thank the Sussex community for their input over the last three years, helping to finalise the cable route to be included in the Development Consent Order (DCO) application, which will be submitted later this summer.

The map below shows the extent of the alternative options, now greyed out, which were consulted upon along the way.  The blue line represents our final cable route and the red lines show operational or temporary construction access routes and construction compounds.

 

 

The final cable route decision was influenced by consultation feedback from statutory bodies, landowners, local residents and businesses, alongside our ongoing engineering and environmental work.  Our goal throughout, has been to identify a cable route which best meets the needs of local communities, wildlife and the environment, while providing a technically feasible and economic connection solution.

The longest section of the route where alternatives were consulted upon ran from Lyminster to Sullington Hill. Having considered feedback from our consultation, the Eastern Route, also known as ‘Longer Alternative Cable Route 1’ has been selected.  This was principally in order to protect ecology, avoiding the Warningcamp Hill and New Down 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, a further alternative option, ‘1d’, consulted on in February and March this year, has been selected to reconnect to the original route at Sullington Hill.  This option has less impact on business, affects fewer hedgerows and is a more direct route.

 

The map below shows the final cable route without the previously considered options. 

 

The Rampion 2 DCO application will be submitted this summer and once accepted by the Planning Inspectorate it will be examined before a decision on approval is made by the Secretary of State.  Should consent be granted construction could start end 2026/early 2027, 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.

 

The proposed Rampion 2 wind farm could generate up to 1,200 megawatts, enough to power over 1 million homes, meaning Rampion and Rampion 2 combined will be able to power the equivalent of all of the homes in Sussex, twice over.

 

Many thanks,

 

Chris

 

Chris Tomlinson

Development & Stakeholder Manager
M+44 (0)7815 141 008

mailto: chris.tomlinson.extern@rwe.com