West Sussex County Council indicates that construction work on the Rampion 2 project, including the buried onshore transmission cable route of roughly 36–38.8km with jointing pits and a new satellite substation near Bolney/Oakendene to connect into the National Grid at Bolney, is not expected to begin until later in 2025.
In September 2025, following the grant of the Development Consent Order for Rampion 2, the project team reported that they were actively progressing early-stage development work, including updating onshore and offshore surveys and continuing onshore and offshore site investigations for the consented scheme of subsea cables, underground cable route and new substation connection to Bolney. These activities are being undertaken as part of the preparatory work required for this Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project before the project can define and communicate a detailed construction programme for the transmission and wider wind farm assets.
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Rampion 2 is a consented 1.2 GW extension to the existing Rampion offshore wind farm located off the Sussex coast in the English Channel. The project is proposed to comprise up to 90 turbines with monopile foundations and associated electrical infrastructure; generated power will be exported to s...
Owners
Rampion 2 Offshore Wind Farm, Rampion Extension Offshore Wind Farm, Rampion Extension Development Limited, Rampion Offshore wind farm Phase 2, Rampion Extension (The Crown Estate 2017 Offshore Wind Extensions), Rampion 2, Rampion extension
On 4 April 2025, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero granted the Rampion 2 Development Consent Order, authorising up to 90 turbines and the associated transmission assets, including subsea export cables to Climping Beach, a 38.8 km underground onshore cable route to a new Oakendene substation near Cowfold, and final connection into the National Grid transmission network at Bolney in Mid Sussex.
By April 2025, Rampion 2 is being developed through Rampion Extension Development Limited as a joint venture structure, with RWE holding a 50.1% stake, a Macquarie‑led consortium holding 25%, and Enbridge holding 24.9%. These partners jointly own and develop the 1.0–1.2 GW Rampion 2 Offshore Wind Farm extension off the Sussex coast, with RWE leading the project on behalf of the consortium.
By 2023, Ocean Ecology had completed a multi‑year programme of subtidal and intertidal ecological surveys and associated predictive habitat mapping, as well as supporting underwater noise monitoring, for the Rampion 2 Offshore Wind Farm. The 2019–2023 work provided key baseline data on benthic habitats, Annex I habitats, and marine biological communities along the offshore array and cable corridor, feeding directly into the Environmental Impact Assessment and consenting case for Rampion 2.
As part of the Development Consent Order application submitted on 10 August 2023, Rampion Extension Development Limited provided a full Environmental Statement for Rampion 2, constituting the formal Environmental Impact Assessment submission required for this Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project under the EIA Regulations 2017.
On 10 August 2023, Rampion Extension Development Limited submitted an application for a Development Consent Order for the Rampion 2 Offshore Wind Farm, covering up to 90 turbines, associated offshore and onshore electrical infrastructure, and connection into the National Grid at Bolney in Mid Sussex.
On 14 June 2023, during a Community Project Liaison Group onshore meeting, the Rampion 2 project team presented a preferred onshore export cable route between Climping Beach and the Oakendene substation near Cowfold. This marked the selection and communication of a preferred route alignment following earlier consultations and technical assessments, ahead of submission of the Development Consent Order application.
In spring 2023, Rampion Extension Development Limited (RED) consulted on enabling works at the National Grid Bolney substation for the Rampion 2 grid connection, including works necessary to accommodate the new onshore transmission connection from the planned Oakendene substation.
A targeted onshore public consultation was held between 24 February and 27 March 2023 on a potential alternative approximately 3 km section of the Rampion 2 onshore cable route in the South Downs, with local stakeholders invited to comment before finalising the route for the Development Consent Order application.
In winter 2023, Rampion Extension Development Limited (RED) conducted an additional public consultation on an alternative onshore cable route option for the Rampion 2 transmission connection, inviting stakeholder and community views on revised routing of the buried transmission cable.
Rampion Extension Development Limited conducted a second statutory onshore public consultation from 18 October to 29 November 2022, focused on alternatives and modifications to the proposed onshore cable route for Rampion 2 between Climping Beach and the new substation near Cowfold.
In autumn 2022, Rampion Extension Development Limited (RED) undertook a further public consultation focused on potential changes to the Rampion 2 onshore transmission cable route through West Sussex, seeking feedback on revisions to how the export cables would be routed inland.
Rampion 2 was awarded a seabed lease extension by The Crown Estate in 2021 under the 2017 Project Extensions Round, extending the existing Rampion offshore wind farm (R3 Zone 6) off the Sussex coast. The extension is being developed by RWE alongside the existing Rampion shareholders (Macquarie's GIG and Enbridge).
Rampion Extension Development Limited (RED) carried out a statutory public consultation on the draft Rampion 2 proposals, including the offshore wind farm and associated transmission assets such as the export cables to Climping Beach and the buried onshore transmission cable route to a satellite substation near Bolney, from 14 July to 16 September 2021 in West Sussex.
A statutory, project-wide public consultation on Rampion 2 ran from 14 July to 16 September 2021, during which the developer sought feedback on its initial expansion proposals and associated environmental information as part of the pre-application process under the Planning Act 2008.
On 9 July 2021, the Preliminary Environmental Information Report (PEIR) for Rampion 2 defined the PEIR Assessment Boundary, which encapsulated the offshore wind farm boundary, offshore export cable corridor, landfall at Climping, onshore cable route options, two onshore substation search areas, construction compound options, and likely access requirements. This boundary formalised the mapped spatial extent of the proposed development and its key environmental and routing constraints ahead of the final Environmental Statement and DCO application.
By 2 July 2021, RWE Renewables had completed geophysical surveys for Area B of the Rampion 2 offshore wind farm site, as evidenced by the publication of the draft report "Rampion 2 OWF Development Geophysical Survey – Area B, Survey Report 11521.3". The geophysical campaign produced detailed seabed and sub-seabed data to inform site characterisation, environmental assessment, and the design of the Rampion 2 offshore array and cables.
Rampion Extension Development Limited held an initial informal public consultation for Rampion 2 via a virtual exhibition between 14 January and 11 February 2021, presenting early offshore wind farm expansion proposals and inviting feedback from local communities and stakeholders on the emerging design.
In July 2020, Rampion Extension Development Limited submitted a Scoping Report for Rampion 2 to the Planning Inspectorate, defining a scoping boundary that set broad onshore and offshore areas of search for project components and identifying potentially significant environmental effects requiring assessment. This report effectively mapped key environmental and spatial constraints and outlined the assessment subjects and methodologies for the subsequent Environmental Impact Assessment.
From 2019, Ocean Ecology was commissioned by RWE’s EIA consultants GoBe and Wood to begin subtidal and intertidal ecological baseline surveys for the proposed Rampion 2 Offshore Wind Farm, using drop-down camera imagery, benthic grab sampling, and intertidal walkover and UAV surveys along the proposed export cable corridor off the West Sussex coast. These surveys formed part of the wider Environmental Impact Assessment process to characterise marine habitats and communities potentially affected by the project.
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