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RAMPION WIND FARM

Name

Course

November 24, 2020

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................3

Introduction......................................................................................................................................4

External influences on a project......................................................................................................5

Government..................................................................................................................................6

External Stakeholders..................................................................................................................7

Regulators.................................................................................................................................7

Environmentalists.....................................................................................................................8

Fishers......................................................................................................................................8

Community...............................................................................................................................9

Industry structure.......................................................................................................................10

The role of ethics and corporate social responsibility within a global marketplace......................11

Noise pollution from the construction of wind farms................................................................12

Noise pollution from the operation of wind farms.....................................................................12

Noise pollution from decommissioning of wind farms.............................................................12

Noise pollution from the operation of tidal devices...................................................................12

Community Benefits..................................................................................................................13

Environmental Impact................................................................................................................14

Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................16

Bibliography..................................................................................................................................17
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Executive Summary
This report covers the external influences and role of ethics in Rampion Wind Farm

project. Rampion wind farm project is developed by E.ON, off the Sussex coast in the United

Kingdom. The idea of offshore wind farms is approved because the United Kingdom has a rich

offshore wind potential and the introduction of vast offshore wind power may have certain

advantages. This project can produce 400 MW for the area around coast. The project was

commissioned in 2018. However, there are several external factors that impact the operation as

well as decision of establishing this project. These external factors include: government,

regulators, society, fishers as well as the structure of the industry. The United Kingdom is facing

the twin problems of climate change and the preservation of energy supplies. The government

needs to consider the economical as well as the impact the project will have on the community to

approve the project. The decision is made by comparing the pros and cons of the project, and if

the benefits outweigh the cost, then the project gains approval from all relevant stakeholders.

Furthermore, this report covers the ethical considerations of the project. As the world is

becoming more socially responsible, it is important for projects to demonstrate their CSR

behaviour. Environmental impact is a very important ethical and socially responsible factor that

should be closely examined. The Rampion wind farm exists to provide the main environmental

benefit of reducing carbon dioxide and other harmful greenhouse gas emissions while posing

several other hazardous environmental impacts that would be discussed in the report.
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Introduction
The project that is chosen for this assignment is Rampion Wind Farm- The UK south

coast’s first offshore wind farm. Rampion wind farm project is developed by E.ON, off the

Sussex coast in the United Kingdom. This project can produce 400 MW. It was commissioned in

2018. The project is located around 13 and 25 kilometers from the shore and the wind farm is

located off the coast of Worhing and Shoreham-by-sea to the west of the city Brighton and Hove

in the middle and the towns of Newhaven and Seaford in the east. The wind farm is situated in an

area that is irregularly long nearly 28 kilometers from east to west, in widths, and 10 kilometers

from North to South, in lengths. The purpose of introducing this project is to eliminate pollution
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and greenhouse gases emission by 2050. The owner has stated that the wind farm project can

create energy, which is renewable, for millions of homes. The farm became operational in

November 2018 and it supplied renewable energy to almost 350,000 homes by using just 116

turbines (BBC, 2018). A project, which is initiated by the country and not just a corporate, is

subject to a large number of external factors. All these factors must be taken into consideration

when establishing a project so that over the course of the project, these factors do not impose a

significant barrier to its establishment. Furthermore, the project must be evaluated on the

premises of its role in ethics and corporate social responsibility in the global market. Thus, in this

paper, the external influences on the project and the role of ethics within a global marketplace

will be covered.

External influences on a project

The ability to use renewable energy supplies is a critical factor in reducing inequality in

various countries. In specific local and community-based green energy initiatives are regarded as

essential ways of development assistance to supply energy while maintaining a safe margin for

future generations. Over the past two decades, the number of individuals lacking access to

modern energy resources, representing anyone without access to electricity as well as cooking

facilities, has declined dramatically. However, 2.6 billion people currently need access to

affordable, renewable electricity resources to satisfy their essential energy needs around the

world (IEA, 2012). Therefore, to establish a project like Rampion Wind Farm that generates

cheaper and sustainable energy is of great importance. However, several external factors

influence the project which will be discussed below:

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Government

The United Kingdom is facing the twin problems of climate change and the preservation

of energy supplies. In order to address these challenges, the UK Government is designing a plan

for providing a balanced range of low-carbon energy sources, wherein renewable sources can

play a crucial role (Feng et al. 2010). As the UK government is facing a twin issue, it approved

the establishment of Rampion Wind Farm in 2014 which promised to supply renewable energy

to at least 450,000 homes through 175 Turbines that will be located offshore. The idea of

offshore wind farms is approved because the United Kingdom has a rich offshore wind potential

and the introduction of vast offshore wind power may have certain advantages. Offshore wind

speeds are stronger, noise is smaller, and offshore wind turbines are projected to generate more

energy than comparable onshore wind turbines (Feng et al. 2010).

The United Kingdom Government has consistently expressed its commitment to green

energies. Through the Kyoto Protocol, the six major greenhouse gases were cut by 12.5% in

1990 amounts between 2008 and 2012 (Gray et al. 2005). Also, in 2000, the Government

committed to supplying 10% of UK power from renewable resources by 2010. Later on, a further

pledge of supplying 20% of energy from sustainable sources by 2020 was set in the Energy

White Paper 2003 (Gray et al. 2005). There have been 3 primary reasons for these initiatives.

First, the diminishing North Sea oil and gas reservoirs leave the United Kingdom facing the

unpleasant prospect of dependent on foreign supplies in regions of economic uncertainty or

political turmoil, such as Russia and the Middle East. Second, the declining unit cost of energy

means that it would be increasingly becoming competitive with traditional energy sources.
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Lastly, world opinion, calculated in polls such as MORI (2002) is firmly in support of green

energy overall and wind energy in specific.

Furthermore, the South Downs National Park Authority acknowledges that the UK

Government is committed to supporting a project that promises low carbon emissions in the

environment and adopts energy generation through renewable resources in consideration of the

Climate Change Act 2008 (SNDPA, 2013). The support by the government for sustainable

energy has provided a huge push to wind energy projects (MacCullaich, 2001).

Thus, all this evidence proves that the government is in favor of renewable energy

sources such as Rampion Wind Farm. Hence, the government will continue to support and

positively influence the offshore wind farms to promote the generation of electricity through

renewable sources.

External Stakeholders

The external stakeholders that can influence the Rampion wind farm project are

regulators, environmentalists, and fishers. Furthermore, the project can also be affected by

industrial factors such as competitiveness.

Regulators

Firstly, there have been two major types of offshore wind farm regulators: highly

supportive; and unsupportive, and under-resourced. The regulators that support the establishment

of wind farms undermine the fishers in those offshore areas, whereas the regulators that do not

support offshore wind farm projects are considered inexperienced and incompetent by

developers (Gray et al. 2005). The opinion that regulators actively promote offshore wind
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turbines is prevalent. From this point of view, the Government is placing its full weight behind

offshore initiatives, giving generous public support to the businesses pursuing them, and

promoting quick planning approvals. Thus, the regulators, mostly, positively influence the wind

farm projects as they are in support of the view that the wind farm projects pose more benefits to

the country.

Environmentalists

Contrarily to the regulators, the environmentalists hold a different view about offshore

wind farms. Environmentalists have said the government's hurry to introduce the wind farms

probably implies that they ran roughshod over environmental issues (Gray et al. 2005). Since the

government supports such projects; the short-scale time set for an establishment does not allow

the opposition to be mobilized. The most important consideration for the environmentalists was

the fishing activities that take place offshore and would be destroyed by the turbines (Wolsink,

2010).

Fishers

Another external influence stakeholder party can be the fishers that act as the stewards of

the sea. If the fishermen are considered as stewards of the sea, they do social service on the shore

that is, the protection of the aquatic environment. Their self-interest is related to the interest of

the public since a stable marine life is the greatest assurance of the well-being of target fish

populations. Representatives of the fishing industry have defined the sizable practical awareness

the fishermen have about sea life. Fishermen can track the sea for signs of harm caused, for

instance, by agricultural discharges, poisonous paint, ship tank dumps, and climate change. If
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fishermen are seen as rightful harvesters, they have the freedom to fish offshore which is a public

resource, provided that they do it sustainably. This requires to be considered as a stakeholder

who entails 'the right to be contacted and the right to express an opinion on any developments'.

This was acknowledged by both regulators and developers, who observed that wind farms could

have a significant negative effect on fishermen's incomes. As a result, fishermen will also have

the right to reimbursement if they are prohibited from entering their fishing grounds (Gray et al.

2005). Furthermore, the fishermen may protest and influence the construction of wind farms in

their sea areas.

Community

Another important external factor that can influence the Rampion wind farms project is

the community. The community is concerned with the benefits they gain from various

governmental or commercial projects. The stance of the community and their voice matters in

the approval of the projects. If a project successfully shows that it provides more benefits to the

community than negative externalities, then the community support is undeniable. Community

gains could also contribute to a greater level of local approval of wind turbines. The deliverance

of 'community benefits' is an extremely important tactic, frequently used to increase the local

public acceptance of wind farms by various project developers. While wind turbines themselves

will support local communities (e.g. through employment opportunities) but the idea of

community benefits usually refers to independent, additional construction funds or investments

that are given to nearby areas (Cowell, 2011). In the United Kingdom, these benefits are usually

given by major construction developers who generally support the Community Benefit Fund.

This fund is administered by an agency that is accountable to local governments and then decides
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how these funds can be invested for instance, by lowering local utility costs, making

contributions to local groups or clubs (Walker, 2014). Firstly, community benefits could affect

community support for the wind farm by shaping individual views of procedural justice. Also,

the provision of local benefits will have an effect on community residents' views of how

beneficial the result of wind farm construction would be at the individual level. Therefore,

Rampion wind farm must ensure that it continues to provide significant advantages to the local

community around the south coast of England by providing renewable energy at a lower cost to

gain approval from the community for the long term.

Industry structure

Considering the industry structure, the wind power farms have also become industrialized

as various businesses establish wind farms to generate renewable energy. In the United

Kingdom, the wind turbine manufacturing sector accounted for an annual turnover of 25 billion

Euros (Markard & Peterson, 2009). In 2009, wind farms appeared all the more viable as

technological advancement raised the scale of turbines far beyond the megawatt mark. Therefore,

with technological advancement, the industry structure is becoming more promising for wind

turbine projects. Wind power is typically one of the most innovative developments in the area of

emerging sustainable and renewable energy sources. In 2009, over the last decade, the global

deployed wind power capacity, much of which is onshore, has grown steadily at growing rates of

around 20% and greater than 35% (GWEC, 2009). Considering these factors, the Rampion wind

farm will experience established industry as the wind turbines have been introduced into the

market long ago, thus in the current times, Rampion will be using more advanced technologies

and wind turbines. The new technological advancement will give Rampion a competitive edge to
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produce renewable energy through more efficient resources and translate the lower cost of

producing energy through efficient manner into lower prices to the consumers or households.

The role of ethics and corporate social responsibility within a global

marketplace
For a given project, it is very important to critically evaluate the impact it has on the

environment, people, and country as a whole. For a project to be successful, it should be

environment friendly or at least have more social benefits than negative externalities. Corporate

social responsibility means that businesses incorporate ethical practices to show that they are

"socially" accountable for their activities and their key consideration is the benefit of the

environment, societies, and country while continuing their operations. Offshore renewable

energy developments are expected to be the most complex engineering activities in the UK's

coastal regions over the next decade. Offshore energies can make a substantial contribution to

the elimination of greenhouse gas emissions and as a result, to reduce the consequences of

climate change a phenomenon that could threaten the abundance and diversity of marine life

(Evans et al., 2007). Although, the biggest advantage of such renewable resources is the long-

term impact on the environment and climate change while creating energy through sustainable

means so that the resources for future generations is not compromised but several immediate

negative factors must be considered. Approval of projects mainly depends on the weightage of

benefits that it offers versus its cons. Therefore, this part of the report will cover the role of

Rampion wind farms under the umbrella of ethics and as a socially responsible project.

Firstly, the environmental effects of such projects will vary by location and structure. The

noise levels that are produced by wind farms are determined by factors such as pile size, hammer
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energy which is the driving power of the turbines, and geological properties present at the site.

However, four major types of possible noise impacts can occur as follows:

Noise pollution from the construction of wind farms

Noise from construction is generated through driven piles where the noise can be excessively

loud reaching levels of 250 decibels (Nedwell et al, 2008).

Noise pollution from the operation of wind farms

The operation noise can be generated because of the structures of turbines into the sea which

may create a barrier effect and cause extremely loud noises (Nedwell et al, 2008).

Noise pollution from decommissioning of wind farms

Decommissioning of wind farms at the end of its commercial existence may include noise-

producing operations such as cutting, blasting, and in serious situations, using explosives to

maintain adherence with government legislation requiring re-establishment of the seabed.

Noise pollution from the operation of tidal devices

The devices are mainly used in the pre-commercial stage, thus are largely unstudied.

However, their usage may produce noise pollution directly into the marine environment. A

variety of parameters have been created by marine scientists to determine the possible impacts of

underwater noise on marine life. Based on laboratory experiments, the Southall standards set the

limits for various marine species, based on the source type. Although several countries are

expected to control noise during offshore construction activity, only a couple of them including

Germany, Denmark as well as Belgium have set a maximum noise level threshold. The German
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Federal Nature Conservation Act recognizes TTS in animals. To be harmful is reported that the

level of noise should not surpass 160 dB or 190 dB from 750m away from the piling area (Ford

et al. 2017). Therefore, considering the above noise generation factors, it is important that the

Rampion wind-farm project acts as a socially responsible project and use types of machinery and

turbines that are eco-friendly and produce less noise.

Community Benefits

One of the key ethical considerations of this Rampion wind farm project is to provide

community benefits. Also, by providing community benefits, the Rampion wind farm can act as

a socially responsible project to continue gaining support from the government and local

communities as well. Although, there are several community benefits that the wind farm project

provides to the local community the inherent negative factors that come with wind turbines such

as noise pollution, destruction of landscapes, etc may pose opposition by communities. Wind

farms provide a direct benefit to the local communities by supporting them through job

opportunities. From the construction phase to its operations and until the decommissioning of the

wind farms, local employees are hired to complete the project. Moreover, the idea of community

benefits usually refers to independent, additional construction funds, or investments that are

given to nearby areas (Cowell, 2011). When the local communities receive funds from various

organizations to fund such projects, those finances are used to enhance the surroundings of the

community that would ultimately lead to a better environment for the locals.
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Environmental Impact

Environmental impact is a very important ethical and socially responsible factor that

should be closely examined. The Rampion wind farm exists to provide the main environmental

benefit of reducing carbon dioxide and other harmful greenhouse gas emissions (See Figures

below). However, several environmental issues co-exist with such offshore wind farms.

Significant environmental issues related to offshore wind projects include elevated noise levels,

the danger of spills and collisions, changes in marine ecosystems, impact on food chains, and

emissions from increased ship traffic or discharge of pollutants from seabed soil (Bailey et al.

2014). Undersea sound levels while the installation, as well as the operation of wind turbines, is

not likely to reach hazardous levels or shield the acoustic interaction of marine mammals. But

this stage of development is of major concern to seabirds. Fatalities may be caused by seabirds

colliding with turbine blades that are moving during the operation. Furthermore, the cables that

transmit the electricity which is produced through wind turbines generate electromagnetic fields

around them. This can disrupt the navigation and communication of those species that are

sensitive to electromagnetic fields. Such species include fish, crustaceans, and sea turtles

(Westerberg & Lagenfelt, 2008).

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Figure 1: Energy consumption by wind farms Figure 2: CO2 emission by wind farms

Along with potential adverse consequences, there seem to be potential environmental

advantages as well. For instance, wind turbine bases may serve as artificial reefs, offering the

surface to which the species may attach. As a result, the number of shellfish as well as the

organisms that prey on them, particularly marine mammals can rise. Furthermore, another

perceived advantage is the sheltering effect. The security buffer zone encircling the wind farms

could become a marine reserve, as the absence of ships inside this zone would reduce

disturbances from shipping. Separation of any or all forms of fishing could also lead to local

rises in prey abundance for predators. Thus, it will again lead to more fish and other sea

mammals that would prey on smaller fish easily resulting in an enhanced aquatic food web

(Lindeboom et al. 2011). Thus, Rampion wind farm projects must consider their impact on

marine aquaculture due to the wind turbines located offshore. Apart from its positive impact on

the aquatic creatures, it should also consider the direct negative consequences such as damages

caused by wind turbines to the seabirds and the noise pollution it creates and works on to become

more eco-friendly by using advanced technologies.

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Conclusion
This report covers the external influences and role of ethics in Rampion Wind Farm

project. Rampion wind farm project is developed by E.ON, off the Sussex coast in the United

Kingdom. The location of off-coast in United Kingdom was selected because the United

Kingdom has a rich offshore wind potential and the introduction of vast offshore wind power

may have certain advantages. Firstly, the wind farm will provide at least 40 MW of electricity to

the nearby area. Also, the wind farm project would use sustainable resources to generate

electricity that would save future resources. Wind farms provide a direct benefit to the local

communities by supporting them through job opportunities. From the construction phase to its

operations and until the decommissioning of the wind farms, local employees are hired to

complete the project. However, there are several negative impacts of the wind farm that include:

ssignificant environmental issues related to offshore wind projects include elevated noise levels,

the danger of spills and collisions, changes in marine ecosystems, impact on food chains, and

emissions from increased ship traffic or discharge of pollutants from seabed soil. Therefore, the

negative environmental and social impact which is the disruption of marine life and damage to

natural landscapes should be less than the positive effect of the installation of the wind power

generation system to reduce the carbon dioxide emission in the atmosphere by Rampion wind

firm for it to be a successful project.

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