German utility E.ON announced this week the first generation of power from its 400 megawatt Rampion Offshore Wind Farm off the southern coast of England, with the first of 116 wind turbines officially brought online.
E.ON first announced its involvement in the Rampion Offshore Wind Farm back in May of 2015 when it revealed that it would invest €1.9 billion into the project, at the same time that it was announced Vestas Offshore Wind would provide 116 of its V112-3.45 MW wind turbines.
Work began in the autumn of 2015 to prepare the seabed for the turbine foundations, which were completed by November 2016. Turbine installation began in March of this year, and was completed ahead of schedule in just over six months. The first turbine was brought online and therefore the first power was generated this week.
“We’re especially proud to have reached this milestone as the first power is generated at Rampion,” said Matthew Swanwick, Project Director for the Rampion Offshore Wind Farm. “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.”
Located 13 kilometers off the Sussex coast of England, when completed and fully operational next year the 400 MW project will generate electricity enough to supply the equivalent of 347,000 homes each year. The Rampion Offshore Wind Farm is jointly owned by E.ON, the Green Investment Group (formerly the UK’s Green Investment Bank), and Canadian multinational Enbridge, which announced its investment in the project in November of 2015.
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