Key Facts

Over the course of the development and construction of Rampion Offshore Wind Farm, we have had hundreds of questions so we have selected the most common to be answered on this page

Content Courtesy of Rampion Offshore Wind Farm .https://www.rampionoffshore.com

From Brighton Diver, Introducing

Rampion Wind Farm Boat Tours

The new Brighton Diver 3 fast ultra-stable 900hp catamaran with 360 degree viewing and heated inside cabin and proper toilet.
Before you book the slower –cheaper tours of the Rampion wind farm please check our reviews onFacebook and TripAdvisor
We are operating the trips from 15th April 2021
Important Notice! Covid 19 please read
The crew of Brighton Diver III aim to make your trip as comfortable and safe as possible. Please read the following to ensure that you keep safe and enjoy your trip.
This is in addition to procedures put in place by Premier Marina’s to protect their staff from risk of infection. Please check the Brighton Marina website for more details.
The boat is fully insured coded but not for Covid-19 (Coronavirus) cases.
Due to the current outbreak of Covid-19 (Coronavirus), customers must strictly comply with the following guidance:

  • Social distancing must be practiced at all times (keep a minimum distance of 2 metres from other people while boarding and throughout your trip)
  • Strictly no admission to the wheelhouse at any time
  • Please stay within the allocated bays marked out on deck to ensure social distancing is followed – seats are provided and you are free to move around the deck as long as social distancing is observed
  • When using the toilet facilities ensure that you maintain social distancing and clean your hands thoroughly before and after using sanitiser, and where a mask if you have one
  • Comply with the instructions of the skipper at all times

Do not travel or board for a trip if you have any of the following symptoms:

  • a cough
  • a high temperature
  • shortness of breath

Currently government advice allows for up to 12 persons to be on board at any time. The size of this vessel allows for social distancing to be observed comfortably within these guidelines.
Sorry the galley will be out of use so you will need to bring your own drinks and food
Brighton Diver III, and Rampion windfarm tours are following all current government guidelines to ensure the safety of its customers.
The vessel will be fully sanitised prior to customers boarding to ensure your safety.The company is actively following all updates issued, and will adjust its policies and information as the situation progresses.

Pack a picnic and climb aboard for a once in a lifetime opportunity to see Brighton’s famous Rampion Wind Farm being built.

Speed out to the site Aboard our 11m ultra stable 900HP Southboats fast cat catamaran the famous Brighton Diver 3, you will experience a panoramic view of England’s “South Coast Riviera” as you cruise 9 nautical miles in each direction.

Get up close and personal with the gigantic turbines standing 150m high and the jack up ships, whose hulls rise out of the water as they assemble each of the 116 windmills, till completion of Europe’s largest windmill farm in late fall 2017.

Enjoy the sea breeze as you float in between the enormous yet elegant windmills, and marvel at the epic scale of this landmark industrial project, as Skipper Paul gives a running commentary and your burning questions answered.

Tours last 2 – 3 hours depending on tides, and generally depart at 0900hrs, 1200hrs or 1500hrs on Saturdays and Sundays and some weekdays

Prices range between £40 and £45 pounds per person.

The larger your party, the cheaper the fare, so why not bring the whole family for a superb day out you will remember for many years to come.

Contact Brighton Diver for further details:

07901 822 375

info@brightondiver.com

http://brightondiver.com/en/rampion-wind-farm-tours/

https://www.facebook.com/rampionoffshorewindfarm/

The south coast’s first offshore wind farm

The Rampion Offshore Wind Farm comprises 116 wind turbines that each sit on top of a foundation fixed into the seabed.

With an installed capacity of 400 megawatts (MW), it will generate 1,400 gigawatt hours (GWh) of green power each year, equal to the amount used annually by around 350,000 UK homes1, or almost half the houses in Sussex. It will reduce COemissions by nearly 600,000 tonnes a year.

The wind farm site covers 70 square kilometres, so it is larger than the island of Guernsey, and is located in the English Channel between 13 and 20 kilometres off the Sussex coast.

When complete in 2018, it will create around 60 full-time permanent jobs. Rampion will be operated and maintained from a purpose-built base at Newhaven Port, and is already acting as a catalyst for the regeneration of the port area.

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Footage courtesy of Fifty One Films

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Offshore components

Rampion features 116 MHI Vestas 3.45 MW turbines. The turbines are made up of an 80 metre (m) tall tower, a nacelle for the generation equipment, a hub, and three 55m long blades. When vertical, the tip of the turbine blade reaches 140m, which is just taller than the Brighton i360’s viewing pod at its top height.

The turbines sit on top of foundations, comprising single steel monopiles and bright yellow transition pieces, designed so they integrate together perfectly. There are 12 rows of 10 to 12 turbines that are connected by array cables taking the power to a single offshore substation. A total of 140 kilometres of array cables are buried in a network under the seabed. Laid end to end, the array cables would stretch from Brighton to London and back.

The wind turbines generate power at 33 kilovolts (kV) and the main role of the offshore substation is to transform this up to 150kV, to reduce any losses as it is transmitted to shore. The 2,000 tonne structure houses the electrical components at the heart of the wind farm including transformers, switchgear and control systems. It sits on a four-leg jacket foundation, fixed into the seabed and weighing around 900 tonnes.

Electricity will be transmitted from the offshore substation along two 16km subsea export cables, which come to shore at the beach, next to Brooklands Pleasure Park in East Worthing.

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Next Rampion wind farm trips

October to December 2024

 

Next Rampion wind farm trips are below please call Paul if you would like to book 07901822375 email paul@brightondiver.com

Gift Vouchers

Available for 2025

Gift vouchers are the perfect way to communicate your cool gift to see this Green energy being produced up close.

Please email paul@brightondiver.com

Other dates available for private charters

If you don’t see your date it may be available please email,

October

Wednesday 2nd ——-0930 depart——1200 depart

Saturday 5th  —–depart 0930—– full

Sunday 6th  ——0930 depart—–full

Monday 7th ——–depart 0930 —–depart 1200

Wednesday 9th  ——-0930 depart

Saturday 12th  —–depart 1200—full

Sunday 13th  —–depart 1200—-full

Saturday 19th  —–depart 1200—full

Sunday 20th  ——0930 —–depart —full

Saturday 26th  —–depart 1200—x1 space

Sunday 27th  ——0930 —–depart 1200

Wednesday 16th  ——-0930 depart——1200 depart

Saturday 19th  —–depart 0930 x1 space

Sunday 20th  ——0930 depart

Saturday 26th  —–depart 1200 x1 space

Sunday 27th  ——0930 depart——1200 depart

Wednesday 30th  ——-0930 depart——1200 depart

November

Saturday 2nd  —–depart 1200

Sunday 3rd  ——0930 —–depart 1200

Wednesday 6th  ——-0930 depart——1200 depart

Saturday 9th  —–depart 1200

Sunday 10th  ——0930 —–depart 1200

Wednesday 13th   —–1200 depart

Saturday 16th  —–depart 1200

Sunday 17th  ——0930 —–depart 1200

Wednesday 20th   ——-0930 depart——1200 depart

Saturday 23rd —–depart 1200

Sunday 24th  ——0930 —–depart 1200

Tuesday 26th ——–1200

Saturday 30th  —–0930 depart ——–depart 1200

December

Sunday 1st   ——0930 —–depart 1200

Wednesday 4th  ——-0930 depart——1200 depart

Saturday 7th  —–depart 1200

Sunday 8th  ——0930 —–depart 1200

Wednesday 11th  ——-0930 depart——1200 depart

Saturday 14th  —–0930 depart——-depart 1200

Sunday 15th  ——0930 —–depart 1200

Wednesday 18th  ——-0930 depart——1200 depart

Saturday 21st   —–0930 depart——-depart 1200

Sunday 22nd—–0930 —–depart 1200

Wednesday 24th  ——-0930 depart——1200 depart

Saturday 28th  —–0930 depart——-depart 1200

Sunday 29th —–0930 —–depart 1200

Monday 31st —–1200

January

Wednesday 1st   ——-1100 depart

 

 

 

Dates are subject to change. If you don’t see your date it may be available please email,

Other dates available for group bookings the trips need min x8 persons to go ahead.

Rampion Windfarm tour departs 0900 and 1200 1430 call Paul 07901822375 email paul@brightondiver.comBoat available Diving Fishing or Windfarm trip call Paul 07901822375 paul@brightondiver.com

Gift Vouchers

Available for 2024

Gift vouchers are the perfect way to communicate your cool gift to see this Green energy being produced up close.

Please email paul@brightondiver.com

 

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Rampion name

The Rampion name was entered into a schools’ naming competition by Davison High School for Girls, and went on to win the public vote. The logo is a stylised version of the Rampion flower, the county flower of Sussex (below), and uses blue and purple hues in its colour.

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Onshore cable and substation

From landfall, 27km of buried onshore cables will transport the power to a new onshore substation in Twineham, Mid Sussex. The cables have been installed in ducts laid in trenches that were backfilled prior to the cables being pulled through. A technique called horizontal directional drilling was used at four landmarks along the route – under the A27, the River Adur, railway line and, the A259 and Lancing Beach. By drilling under each of these, traffic and trains were not interrupted, the beach could remain open and environmental impact to the River Adur was minimised.

At the new substation, the electricity will be transformed from 150kV to 400kV and then transmitted to the existing National Grid substation. From here it will enter the national grid for use by homes, businesses and the wider community.

Construction time frame

Construction of the Rampion Offshore Wind Farm began in 2015 and is due to be fully operational in 2018, with the final completion date being largely dependent on logistics and weather during the construction period. Reinstatement of the onshore cable route will be monitored for 10 years and the wind farm itself will have a lifespan of 20 to 25 years.

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