The 116 turbines on the 70 square kilometre site began operating in April 2018 and have reduced national emissions by over 600,000 tonnes every year since.
I supported the development of the Wind Farm, powering over 350,000 UK homes here in Sussex.
Clean, green energy has helped to transform our stretch of the coast. Many welcome the attractive focal point off the coast of Worthing and Arun.
As a seaside community, it is likely we will feel the effects of climate change before other parts of the country. For some, the effects are already clear.
It is crucial that we work together to ensure that future developments take into account the concerns and views of communities and ensure that they are appropriate as we transition towards a low-carbon energy supply.
My concerns regarding plans for the expansion are public.
We can unite in supporting renewable energy but share in concern at inappropriate projects that have not taken adequate consideration of the adverse impacts.
I echo the concerns shared by Andrew Griffith, MP for Arundel and the South Downs, and Nick Gibb, MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, in saying that the location for the project isn't the right one.
We support the government's aim to be a world leader in renewable energy. We wonder if this stretch of the Sussex coastline is appropriate, or inappropriate for such a large extended wind farm. The government said they wanted no wind farm to be within 25 miles of a national park. This would be within 10 miles of the South Downs and eight miles of the coast.
The problem apparently with pushing the wind farm further into the channel is the channel is relatively narrow and that would cause difficulties for navigation, we don't want that to happen. We've just got to take care and make sure we find the most appropriate place for the most appropriate energy for the future.
_jfif.jpg)
Rampion 2 and Surrounding Area
The dark purple area represents the broad area being investigated for locating offshore wind turbines
If you look out now at the existing Rampion, it doesn't cause too much difficulty to anybody. I look out from up on the Downs and that's acceptable...in fact it looks quite pretty.
If you have turbine masts that are twice as high and just as close in, the impact is going to be much much greater and that is what people along the coast are saying. People say it to me in Ferring, East Preston, Rustington.
Do you really need to have such a wide corridor to bring electricity ashore through the national park. The South Downs is there to be protected and we do hope that those who make the decisions will take these things into account.
There are positives: current estimates have the expanded wind farm producing up to 1,200 megawatts of energy, enough to bring green electricity to 350,000 homes. The negatives must be considered.
We all want a more environmentally friendly future; we must do what we can to make sure that it serves each of our best interests.