Latest news with #Rampion2
Gulf Insider
21-04-2025
- Business
- Gulf Insider
The UK Is Doubling Down On Wind Energy
The UK is expanding its wind energy capacity, particularly offshore, with the approval of the Rampion 2 project. The Rampion 2 expansion will add 1.2 GW of capacity, enough to power around 1 million UK homes. The UK government aims to quadruple its offshore wind capacity by 2030 as part of its net-zero carbon goals. The U.K. is already a world leader in wind energy, having rapidly expanded both its onshore and offshore wind capacity over the last decade. Now, under the new Labour government, the U.K. hopes to expand its wind power sector even further through the massive expansion of the Rampion offshore wind farm. This is expected to help the government progress towards achieving its net-zero carbon ambitions. In 2023, 46.4 percent of the UK's electricity was generated using renewable energy sources, of which wind energy contributed 61 percent. Around 39.7 percent of the U.K.'s wind energy is generated onshore and the remaining 60.3 offshore. The U.K. constructed its first commercial onshore wind farm in 1991, generating 1 GW of wind capacity. In 2024, the U.K.'s wind energy capacity increased to 30GW, double that of 2017. The U.K. has 11,906 turbines, with 9,141 onshore and 2,765 offshore, consisting of 10 floating and 2,755 fixed turbines. Approximately 32,000 people are employed in the U.K.'s offshore wind industry, a figure that is expected to increase to over 120,000 by 2030. The government also hopes to achieve 60 GW of wind capacity by the end of the decade, which could add as much as $58.5 billion to the economy. By the beginning of 2025, the U.K. had grown its offshore wind energy capacity to become the largest in Europe and second only to China, at 14 GW. In early April, the government approved plans to develop Rampion 2, an offshore wind farm with enough energy to power around 1 million U.K. homes. The expansion of the Rampion offshore wind farm, off England's south coast, would include the addition of 90 turbines to add 1.2 GW of capacity. The project is expected to create 4,000 jobs during the construction phase, which is scheduled to commence in 2026. The government decision on the expansion was expected to be delivered in February but it has been delayed while more information is collected from the project's developer. The wind farm is being developed by RWE as the majority shareholder (50.1 percent), a Macquarie-led consortium (25 percent), and Enbridge (24.9 percent). The electricity produced at Rampion will be transported to land via subsea cables. An underground cable will then deliver the power inland to a new substation at Oakendene near Cowfold before connecting it to the national grid at Bolney in Sussex. The wind farm is expected to be operational by the late 2020s. Danielle Lane, the director of offshore wind development U.K. and Ireland at RWE, stated, 'We are delighted to receive the development consent order for the proposed Rampion 2 offshore wind farm. This is a key milestone in the development of the project, as Rampion 2 can play an important role in helping secure the U.K.'s energy supplies from our abundant wind resource and play a key role in supporting the U.K. government's clean power ambitions.' Since coming into power last July, the Labour government has gone full throttle on the deployment of green energy, with plans to double the U.K.'s onshore wind, triple its solar power, and quadruple its offshore wind power capacity by 2030. It has also announced plans to reduce the contribution of natural gas to the country's electricity generation to just 5 percent by the end of the decade. Thanks to the development of a more friendly investment environment, in an event in October some of the world's largest green energy companies pledged to invest almost $31.39 billion across the U.K., demonstrating that greater public investment in the sector is attracting higher levels of private financing. U.K. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said, 'The U.K. has a boundless supply of wind that cannot be turned on and off at the whims of dictators and petrostates. It's time to get off the fossil fuel rollercoaster, roll out clean power, protect our energy security and bring down bills for good.' He added, 'This project puts us within reach of our clean power offshore wind target,' Miliband said. 'Through our plan for change, we're getting on with delivering the clean energy and jobs Britain needs.' Last year was a record year for wind energy production, with onshore and offshore projects producing 83 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity across Great Britain, an increase from almost 79 TWh in 2023. In around 10 days in December alone, over 50 percent of Britain's electricity production came from wind. However, there are also less windy periods, where energy production is lower. This suggests the need for greater investment in battery storage technology to make the renewable energy source more reliable and help reduce the U.K.'s reliance on fossil fuels during low-production times. The U.K. is already a major onshore and offshore producer of wind energy, having developed several projects over the last three decades. The approval of the new Rampion 2 project is expected to put the country on track to achieve its end-of-decade climate goals, by decarbonising its transmission network. This is one of many clean energy projects the Labour government has announced over the last eight months, with the ambitious green transition agenda expected to attract high levels of private funding in the sector.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wind turbines as tall as the Eiffel Tower to be built in the Channel
Ed Miliband has approved plans for a giant wind farm to be built in the English Channel with dozens of turbines as tall as the Eiffel Tower. The wind farm, called Rampion 2, received the green light from the Energy Secretary despite objections from hundreds of locals who fear it will damage ecosystems and ruin views from the coastline and South Downs National Park. Once complete, the £4bn development will stretch 50 miles along the coast from east of Brighton to west of Bognor Regis. The plans are part of Mr Miliband's race to hit net zero, which is being powered by renewable energy including solar and wind. Mr Miliband said: 'This project puts us within reach of our clean power offshore wind target. It's time to get off the fossil fuel rollercoaster, roll out clean power, protect our energy security and bring down bills for good. 'The UK has a boundless supply of wind that cannot be turned on and off at the whims of dictators and petrostates.' The scheme had attracted hundreds of objections from people angry at the 'industrialisation' of England's seascape, and at the damage from installing onshore cables and substations. One objection submitted to the Government warned that the wind turbines would be 'as high as the Eiffel Tower'. It added: 'There will be no place on the West Sussex coast that the horizon is not dominated by them by day and night.' The turbines will stand 1,066ft above sea level, the same height as the Parisian landmark when its aerial is not included. Brighton and Hove Council has warned they will ruin the view from the seafront. The project will require hundreds of miles of cabling which will be cut into the seabed, as well as a power export cable landing at Climping, and more than 22 miles (35km) of buried cable routed through the South Downs National Park. Under the sea they will be embedded in foundations comprising thousands of tons of cement and protected from currents by thousands more tons of 'rock armour' – boulders typically quarried from Norwegian fjords and dumped around the towers. Fishermen fear the scheme will destroy their livelihoods by making swathes of seabed inaccessible. RWE, the German company leading the scheme, said the environmental impacts were justified by the green power the turbines would generate. The South Downs National Park Authority said the turbines would ruin the views of the sea from its rolling hills. It said: 'Their proximity to the coastline, size, number and spread would have significant adverse effects on the character and setting of the national park.' An objection from the Littlehampton East Beach Residents Association said the scheme would 'disrupt and permanently degrade ecosystems in the sea, on the land and in the air, both during construction and operation ... It will substantially degrade intrinsic values of the natural seascape and landscape impacting on the wellbeing of many.' Mr Miliband's decision to approve Rampion 2 follows a string of controversial planning grants including the giant Sunnica solar park in Suffolk. In each case, hundreds of objections from local people, councils and environmental groups were overruled by Mr Miliband on the grounds that generating low carbon power was more important than the landscape and other impacts. The Rampion project is led by RWE on behalf of joint venture partners, all of which are foreign-owned. The UK's contract for difference scheme means that, if accepted into it, Rampion will be guaranteed profits – which will mostly flow abroad to the scheme's overseas investors. Danielle Lane of RWE said: 'Rampion 2 can play an important role in helping secure the UK's energy supplies from our abundant wind resource and play a key role in supporting the UK Government's clean power ambitions.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
05-04-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Wind turbines as tall as the Eiffel Tower to be built in the Channel
Ed Miliband has approved plans for a giant wind farm to be built in the English Channel with dozens of turbines as tall as the Eiffel Tower. The wind farm, called Rampion 2, received the green light from the Energy Secretary despite objections from hundreds of locals who fear it will damage ecosystems and ruin views from the coastline and South Downs National Park. Once complete, the £4bn development will stretch 50 miles along the coast from east of Brighton to west of Bognor Regis. The plans are part of Mr Miliband's race to hit net zero, which is being powered by renewable energy including solar and wind. Mr Miliband said: 'This project puts us within reach of our clean power offshore wind target. It's time to get off the fossil fuel rollercoaster, roll out clean power, protect our energy security and bring down bills for good. 'The UK has a boundless supply of wind that cannot be turned on and off at the whims of dictators and petrostates.' The scheme had attracted hundreds of objections from people angry at the 'industrialisation' of England's seascape, and at the damage from installing onshore cables and substations. One objection submitted to the Government warned that the wind turbines would be 'as high as the Eiffel Tower'. It added: 'There will be no place on the West Sussex coast that the horizon is not dominated by them by day and night.' The turbines will stand 1,066ft above sea level, the same height as the Parisian landmark when its aerial is not included. Brighton and Hove Council has warned they will ruin the view from the seafront. The project will require hundreds of miles of cabling which will be cut into the seabed, as well as a power export cable landing at Climping, and more than 22 miles (35km) of buried cable routed through the South Downs National Park. Under the sea they will be embedded in foundations comprising thousands of tons of cement and protected from currents by thousands more tons of 'rock armour' – boulders typically quarried from Norwegian fjords and dumped around the towers. Fishermen fear the scheme will destroy their livelihoods by making swathes of seabed inaccessible. RWE, the German company leading the scheme, said the environmental impacts were justified by the green power the turbines would generate. The South Downs National Park Authority said the turbines would ruin the views of the sea from its rolling hills. It said: 'Their proximity to the coastline, size, number and spread would have significant adverse effects on the character and setting of the national park.' An objection from the Littlehampton East Beach Residents Association said the scheme would 'disrupt and permanently degrade ecosystems in the sea, on the land and in the air, both during construction and operation ... It will substantially degrade intrinsic values of the natural seascape and landscape impacting on the wellbeing of many.' Mr Miliband's decision to approve Rampion 2 follows a string of controversial planning grants including the giant Sunnica solar park in Suffolk. In each case, hundreds of objections from local people, councils and environmental groups were overruled by Mr Miliband on the grounds that generating low carbon power was more important than the landscape and other impacts. The Rampion project is led by RWE on behalf of joint venture partners, all of which are foreign-owned. The UK's contract for difference scheme means that, if accepted into it, Rampion will be guaranteed profits – which will mostly flow abroad to the scheme's overseas investors. Danielle Lane of RWE said: 'Rampion 2 can play an important role in helping secure the UK's energy supplies from our abundant wind resource and play a key role in supporting the UK Government's clean power ambitions.'
BBC News
04-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Plans to expand windfarm off Sussex coast given green light
Plans to expand a windfarm off the Sussex coast have been given the go-ahead by the government. The Rampion 2 Offshore Wind Farm will see a further 90 turbines erected near a site of 116 turbines. The turbines - which can be up to 325m (1,066ft) in height - are capable of producing enough clean electricity to power the equivalent of one million homes, says the developer of the Rampion 2 project, Rampion Extension Development, said subsea cables will bring the power to shore under Climping Beach. It added an underground cable route will take the power to a new substation at Oakendene near Cowfold, before reaching final connection into the transmission network at Bolney, Mid Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband, confirmed the government granted planning permission for the project on Friday. When public hearings began on the plans, critics voiced concerns about the wind farm's impact on was expected to start in 2027 and be completed by Patel, from Rampion Extension Development, said: "This is a key milestone for the project and Rampion 2 is now set to play an important role in securing the UK's energy supplies from our abundant wind resource."The government believes this project will create up to 4,000 jobs.
The Guardian
04-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Extension of huge offshore windfarm in Sussex approved
The government has approved plans to build an offshore windfarm capable of powering about 1m British homes before the end of the decade. The plan to extend the Rampion offshore windfarm by adding 90 turbines off the Sussex coast is expected to add about 1.2 gigawatts of clean power for British families and businesses. It could also create 4,000 jobs in the construction phase of the project, known as Rampion 2, which is expected to begin next year. The government's decision on the project, originally expected in February this year, was postponed in order for the government to request more information from its developer, RWE. The project also faced local concerns over its impact on tourism. Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, said: 'The UK has a boundless supply of wind that cannot be turned on and off at the whims of dictators and petrostates. It's time to get off the fossil fuel rollercoaster, roll out clean power, protect our energy security and bring down bills for good.' The green light for Rampion 2 means the current government has now approved enough new clean energy projects to power 1.8m British households since it came to power in July last year. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Its ambitious clean power agenda includes plans to double the UK's onshore wind, triple its solar power and quadruple its offshore wind power capacity by the end of the decade. It hopes to relegate gas plants to just 5% of the UK's electricity generation by 2030 to create a clean power system. 'This project puts us within reach of our clean power offshore wind target,' Miliband said. 'Through our plan for change we're getting on with delivering the clean energy and jobs Britain needs.' Umair Patel, the project leader of Rampion 2, said the windfarm could generate 'about three-quarters of all the electricity demands for the whole of Sussex and help generate jobs during construction and operation'. 'We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Sussex community for their input over the past four years, helping us to refine and adapt the proposals to create the best possible project for this site, for the community and the environment,' Patel said.
