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The UK Government has officially approved the Development Consent Order (DCO) for the Rampion 2 Offshore Wind Farm. The announcement was made today by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP.
Rampion 2, to be developed off the Sussex coast, is an extension of the existing Rampion Offshore Wind Farm and is led by global renewables leader RWE. The project is being developed on behalf of a joint venture that includes RWE (50.1% stake), a Macquarie-led consortium (25%), and Enbridge Inc. (24.9%), a major North American energy infrastructure company. Once operational, the project is expected to generate enough clean electricity to power over one million UK homes.
The proposed wind farm will consist of up to 90 offshore wind turbines. Subsea cables will deliver electricity to shore at Climping Beach, from where an underground cable route will connect to a new substation at Oakendene, near Cowfold, and finally link to the national transmission grid at Bolney in Mid Sussex.
Danielle Lane, RWE Director of Offshore Wind Development UK and Ireland: “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 UK’s energy supplies from our abundant wind resource and play a key role in supporting the UK Government’s clean power ambitions.”
Umair Patel, Project Lead for Rampion 2 continued: “This is great news for Rampion 2 and for Sussex, as the wind farm could generate around three-quarters of all the electricity demands for the whole of Sussex and help generate jobs during both 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.”
Rampion 2 is eligible to enter an upcoming Contract for Difference (CfD) auction, with the next major milestone being the Financial Investment Decision (FID) by the joint venture partners. Subject to that decision, construction could begin soon after, with the wind farm expected to be fully operational by the end of the decade.
This project forms part of RWE’s expanding offshore wind pipeline in the UK. The company currently operates 10 offshore wind farms across the country and is developing a further nine, including Rampion 2 and three Norfolk projects. Together, these represent a potential generation capacity of around 10.5 GW—of which RWE’s share is approximately 7.5 GW. With more than 20 years of experience and 19 offshore wind farms already in operation, RWE continues to play a key role in driving the UK’s transition to a net-zero energy system.
