Renewable energy on our doorstep: the story of Rampion

The turbines of Rampion Offshore Wind Farm have become a familiar feature of the Sussex coastline. For us, the connection is even closer, our head office is in Worthing, and some of the REGOs we've acquired to support our renewable electricity reporting are linked to generation at Rampion.

So, while renewable energy can sometimes feel like something happening somewhere else, there's a renewable generation project right on our doorstep.

The South Coast's first offshore wind farm

Rampion is the first offshore wind farm on England's south coast. Its 116 turbines are located in the English Channel, between around 13 and 20 kilometres from the Sussex coastline, stretching from East Worthing towards Brighton.

Together, the turbines have an installed capacity of 400 megawatts (MW) and are capable of generating almost 1,400 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity each year. That's equivalent to the annual electricity use of around 350,000 UK homes – roughly half of all homes in Sussex.

The turbines are difficult to miss on a clear day. Each one has a blade tip height of around 140 metres, with blades stretching 55 metres long. To put that into perspective, the tip of a Rampion turbine reaches slightly higher than the top of the Brighton i360 viewing pod.

From wind to electricity

The principle behind wind generation is simple: moving air turns the turbine blades, which drive a generator to produce electricity.

But the engineering behind Rampion is anything but simple.

Each turbine is fixed to the seabed using a steel monopile foundation. Electricity generated by the turbines travels through a network of subsea cables to an offshore substation, where the voltage is increased before the electricity is transported back to shore.

In total, around 140 kilometres of array cables sit beneath the seabed. Two export cables then carry the electricity towards the Sussex coast, coming ashore near Brooklands Pleasure Park at Lancing. From there, underground cables connect the wind farm to the wider electricity transmission network.

Much of this infrastructure is invisible from the shore.

What we see are the turbines – but beneath the surface is an extensive network of engineering that connects renewable generation at sea to the UK's electricity system.

A project that has become part of the Sussex landscape

Construction of Rampion began in 2015, with the first electricity generated in November 2017. The wind farm became fully operational in 2018.

Since then, the turbines have become a familiar feature of the Sussex coastline.

For people in Worthing and along the coast, there's something quite tangible about being able to look out to sea and see renewable generation taking place.

At SmartestEnergy Business, that's particularly meaningful to us.

Our head office is based in Worthing, so Rampion isn't simply a renewable energy project we've read about or seen in an industry report. It's part of the landscape around us.

On a clear day, you can look out from the coast and see the turbines turning on the horizon.

From the Sussex coast to businesses across Britain

Renewable electricity isn't generated in one place and delivered directly to a particular business. Electricity flows through the interconnected grid, while Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin provide a recognised way of evidencing the renewable attributes associated with electricity generation.

As part of our renewable electricity sourcing, we've acquired REGOs associated with renewable generation from Rampion.

That gives us an opportunity to tell a more tangible story about renewable energy: behind the certificates and numbers are real projects, real infrastructure and real places.

In this case, one of those places is right off the Sussex coast.

Experiencing Rampion up close

Our connection with Rampion extends beyond seeing the turbines on the horizon.

In 2021, a group of SmartestEnergy colleagues had the opportunity to visit the wind farm by boat, departing from Brighton to experience Rampion from the water. Employees entered an internal competition by sharing what "net zero" means to them, with ten winning entries selected to take part in the trip.

The visit offered a unique perspective on a project that many of us regularly see from the Sussex coastline. While the turbines appear distant from shore, seeing them up close highlighted the scale of the engineering involved and the role offshore wind plays in the UK's renewable energy system.

For those who took part, the experience brought to life many of the conversations taking place around renewable energy and decarbonisation. It also provided a memorable opportunity to get closer to a renewable generation project that sits just off the coast where many of us live and work.

This first-hand experience made an already familiar landmark feel even closer to home.

A familiar view with a bigger story behind it

Next time you're walking along the coast in Worthing, Brighton or further along the Sussex shoreline, take a look out to sea.

Those turbines on the horizon represent a significant piece of the UK's renewable generation infrastructure and a remarkable feat of engineering operating just a few miles from where we work.

For us, Rampion is a reminder that the transition towards more renewable generation isn't simply happening somewhere in the future or somewhere far away.