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First power generated at Rampion offshore
The generation of power at the 400 MW Rampion offshore wind farm located 13 km off the coast of Sussex has begun – the first turbine was brought online in November last year, says majority owner and operator E.ON.
Work began offshore in autumn 2015 to prepare the seabed for the turbine foundations, the first of which was installed in early 2016, with all 116 completed by November 2016. Turbine installation began in March 2017 and was completed in just over six months in September.
Matthew Swanwick, Project Director for the Rampion Offshore Wind Farm said: ‘Over the coming weeks and months the turbines will one-by-one begin to be turned on and generate power as they are brought online. This process will take us into 2018 to complete.’
Earlier, the project announced a £4mn Community Fund, with the largest element, the £3.1mn Rampion Fund, earmarked for community projects. This fund is being managed by Sussex Community Foundation.
The project is being built by E.ON, UK Green Investment Rampion and Canadian energy infrastructure company Enbridge. Once complete, it will provide enough electricity to supply almost 340,000 homes, equivalent to around half the homes in Sussex.
Meanwhile, an economic impact study has shown that Green Port Hull, a partnership established to attract renewable energy sector investment to the region, has created more than 2,000 jobs in the renewable energy sector and its supply chain. As a partner, the University of Hull’s Logistics Institute has undertaken an economic, social and environmental impact assessment of the renewable energy sector since the significant investment made in Hull by Siemens Gamesa and Associated British Ports (ABP). In 2014, Siemens Gamesa and ABP announced an investment of £310mn in the development of an offshore wind turbine blade manufacturing facility on Alexandra Dock in Hull.
Now, two years into the three-year study, preliminary evidence suggests that the economic impact of the initial investment goes well beyond the initial sum. For every £1 of investment, an additional 47 p will be generated in the disposable income of the local economy of the Humber, says the university. Also, just over 1,000 jobs were created for the plant, with potential for an additional 600 supporting jobs.
