RESIDENTS have another chance to have their say about doubling the number of wind turbines off the Sussex coast.

Rampion 2 could create clean, renewable energy to power more than one million homes in the UK and reduce carbon emissions by 1.8 million tonnes per year.

The current wind farm off the Sussex coast powers the equivalent of around 350,000 UK homes with 116 turbines.

Rampion 2 would add another 116 turbines.

A subsea export cable, that will run under Climping Beach near Littlehampton, is being proposed to bring the power ashore from the wind farm.

This cable will then connect to an underground cable that will be required to bring the power inland to connect to the national transmission grid in Bolney.

Technical and environmental surveys and a four-week informal consultation earlier this year have helped to establish the proposed cable route, having the cable underground in sections.

Directional drilling - drilling through the ground at an angle - would take them under Climping Beach, railways, major roads such as the A27, the River Arun, Washington Recreation Ground and other key areas.

Rampion’s commitment to full reinstatement of the land means that the disrupted land will be returned to its former state along the entire cable route, operators said.

Rampion is planning for construction to begin in 2025/26 at the earliest with a view to having a completed, operational project before the end of the decade.

The Argus: Rampion Wind Farm. Credit Darren Cool Rampion Wind Farm. Credit Darren Cool

This will contribute to government targets to secure clean, green energy supplies and tackle climate change.

Chris Tomlinson, development and stakeholder manager, said: “We encourage people in Sussex to visit Rampion2.com, where you can take a tour around a virtual exhibition, explore our detailed proposals with maps and videos, sign up to attend a public forum with the project team, and complete our questionnaire.

“We will consider all the consultation feedback alongside the results of technical and environmental surveys, to further refine our proposals and select construction methodologies and environmental mitigations that reduce impacts to a minimum.  “We will submit our final proposals to the Planning Inspectorate for examination in early 2022.

“Rampion 2 is the only wind farm proposal off the UK’s south coast, where much of the country’s energy demand is.

“Should the project achieve consent, construction could start around 2025/26 with the wind farm fully operational before the end of the decade, contributing to government targets to secure clean, green energy supplies and tackle climate change.”

Rampion is the only wind farm off the south coast of England, and this densely populated region is where much of the electricity demand is concentrated.

The cost of offshore wind has halved in just two to three years and is now cheaper than nuclear and coal while creating tens of thousands of jobs nationwide.

The public consultation on the proposals for the Rampion Offshore Wind Farm, ill run for nine weeks and end on September 16.