Ghostly shapes of cranes constructing Rampion Wind Farm as viewed from Brighton. The pale silhouettes on the horizon of the Channel seem to represent visually the future, ie renewable energy production, compared to the stark shapes of the familiar, traditional, coal and gas burning power stations.
Rampion’s 116 turbines are located between 13 and 25 kilometres offshore. Total peak capacity is expected to be about 400 MW. As comparison, a coal fired power station with eight cooling towers produces more than five times this amount, 2116 MW, such as Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station in Nottinghamshire, which we visited as part of my degree course.