Concerns Over £1.1bn Cross-Channel Power Link’s Impact on Proposed Sussex Windfarm

Concerns have been raised that the proposed £1.1bn Aquind Interconnector between the UK and France will impact the construction of a windfarm on the Sussex coast.

The Aquind project proposes running HVDC cables between the south coast of England and Normandy in France to carry 2GW of power.

However, RWE Renewables UK Ltd (RWER) said the suggested route for the marine cables of the interconnector crosses the site of the proposed Rampion Extension offshore windfarm, which is located off the coast between Brighton and Worthing.

Responding to the Aquind's development consent order application – published on the National Infrastructure Planning website – windfarm shareholder RWER said that the routeing criteria outlined in the Aquind Environmental Statement (ES) “specifically precludes the location of any offshore windfarms”.

However, it added: “While the developer of the Aquind project refers to the proposed Rampion extension site within the ES in consideration of impacts on other sea users, there has been no communication or consultation with RWER to date.”

RWER said it wants to understand “any potential impacts” that the interconnector could have on the development, construction and operation of the wind farm.

Areas of particular concern are:

any sterilisation of the seabed in respect of structure exclusions

any potential limitation on wind farm cables crossing the interconnector

potential commercial and legal arrangements for the crossing of the Aquind and offshore wind farm cables

any impacts on construction due to the presence of the interconnector

All consultation responses to the Aquind project have now been published on the National Infrastructure Planning website, after the registration of interested parties closed on 19 February.

The application was accepted for examination by the Planning Inspectorate on 12 December 2019.

The Examining Authority will now carry out an initial assessment of principal issues derived from the application and relevant representations received. It will then set a date for the preliminary meeting.

A spokesperson for Aquind said: “Aquind is carefully reviewing all of the representations submitted from the local community, stakeholder and other organisations and will response to the comments received, where appropriate, as part of the examination process, which will commence in the coming months.”