Apollo has announced the successful completion of a key pre-FEED project in collaboration with Celtic Sea Power and Vekta which explored the development of coordinated solutions to bring marine generated power into Pembroke from the Celtic Sea.

The collaborative effort resulted in the creation of two commercial-scale substations, to be situated in two of the three Primary Development Areas (PDAs) identified by The Crown Estate, along with a smaller Multi-connection Offshore Substation (MOS) within the Pembrokeshire Demonstration Zone (PDZ).

Celtic Sea map showing the relationship of substations onshore and offshore to the PDZ

Pre-FEED Study Enhances Engineering Design

The outputs resulting from the pre-FEED engineering study will improve engineering design and understanding of how to achieve coordination in line with the evolving regulatory environment. Utilising these designs could accelerate project delivery and maximise the potential of the first commercial-scale floating offshore wind (FLOW) projects through a coordinated approach. Partly funded through the European Regional Development Fund the project also aims to stimulate further investment in the region for the FLOW market.

Pre-FEED Follows on from Concept Phase

The award of the pre-FEED contract built on a successful collaboration between Apollo and Celtic Sea Power in the Concept phase to help define the offshore design envelope and onshore connections of the asset. Through further work on the project, it is hoped that the unit could also provide an offshore coordinated electrical link for FLOW development in the Celtic Sea, reducing the development cost to developers active in this area.

The Crown Estate leasing round to release 4.5GW of FLOW in the Celtic Sea, commences at the end of this year with an ambition to realise a further 20GW in the future.

Speaking about the collaboration, Jonathan White, Regional Director of Apollo said:
“We enjoyed working with Celtic Sea Power and our partners at Vekta to realise this exciting project in order to realise a tangible offshore asset that has considerable advantages for the region.

“By coordinating offshore electrical connections there is the opportunity to save considerable amounts of investment capital with associated significant socio-environmental impacts onshore by have a single defined onshore connection.”

KeyFacts Energy Indistry Directory: Apollo Engineering