Celtic Sea Success for Apollo

Apollo are pleased to announce the successful contract award from Celtic Sea Power of the pre-FEED contract for the 400MW Pembrokeshire Demonstration Zone Multi-connection Offshore Substation (PDZ MOS) and 2x 1GW MOS’s targeting The Crown Estate Refined Area of Search (RAoS) A.

Located 19 km off the Pembrokeshire coast, the PDZ MOS project is designed to allow offshore renewable energy technology developers easy access to a consented test site complete with a grid connection to prove their technology in the offshore environment. Partly funded through the European Regional Development Fund the project also aims to stimulate further investment in the region for the floating offshore wind (FLOW) market. Additionally, the 2x 1GW MOS’s being developed for the RAoS A will demonstrate what a coordinated grid connection could look like for the commercial developments in the Celtic Sea.

This award builds 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 assets. It is hoped that the outputs of this study will provide confidence around a phased and coordinated FLOW development in the Celtic Sea. Through increasing efficiency and reducing development cost, the cost of energy will be lower for the UK consumer, whilst also delivering environmental and societal benefits. The Crown Estate bidding round to release 4GW of FLOW commences this August with an ambition to realise a further 20GW in the future.

The commission represents an important step in a coordinated approach to the development of FLOW and other marine generation technologies in the Celtic Sea and the team at Apollo are delighted to be continuing our relationship with Celtic Sea Power on this project whilst building our regional presence.

Jonathan White, Regional Director of Apollo said “This contract award builds on a successful first phase of the project and underpins the competency and quality of the engineering team at Apollo. The PDZ MOS is a unique opportunity for the region to become a leading presence in the emerging FLOW market and we look forward to a continued relationship with Celtic Sea Power to help realise this important project.”

Nigel Jones, Technical Manager at Celtic Sea Power said “This pre-FEED activity will further refine what good looks like for a coordinated approach to bringing up to 2.4GW of power into the electricity transmission system in south Wales. Apollo’s work will focus on deliverable designs that align with the aspirations for offshore coordination in the UK underpinning Wales’s policy ambition for a stronger, greener better Wales. Celtic Sea Power are pioneering work on coordinated enabling infrastructure to maximise the potential of the Celtic Sea, and we are delighted to have Apollo as our consultancy partner once again.”