Apollo’s Floating Wind Quick Connector Gets Closer to Commercial Rollout

Apollo’s Floating Wind Quick Connector Gets Closer to Commercial Rollout

PALM QCS trials (Credit: Apollo)

Apollo has received an Approval in Principle (Level 2) from Bureau Veritas for its PALM Quick Connection System (QCS), a technology designed to simplify the connection and disconnection of dynamic cables from floating offshore wind turbines.

The approval follows a 12-month full-scale front-end engineering and design (FEED) study funded by the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership and Wave Energy Scotland.

Apollo said the certification confirms that the PALM QCS has been independently assessed against industry standards and can now advance toward technical qualification and Type Approval.

The PALM QCS is designed to connect and disconnect dynamic cables without the need for specialist vessels, divers or personnel transfer. According to Apollo, the system has already completed 50 successful connection and disconnection operations during offshore field trials.

The company said the technology can reconnect dynamic cables in 5.5 hours, compared with marine operations that can take several days, and could deliver potential through-life savings of $161 million (£120 million) in a gigawatt-scale floating offshore wind farm.

Apollo said the system is intended to reduce offshore downtime, lower weather-related operational risks and improve safety by eliminating the need for personnel transfer during cable operations.

The technology was originally developed through a Wave Energy Scotland program and has since undergone offshore trials and adaptation for floating offshore wind applications.

Apollo plans additional subsea electrical trials in 2027 as part of a European Union Horizon project led by the European Marine Energy Centre.

“This milestone is another important step towards commercial deployment of our PALM QCS technology, crucially helping demonstrate the bankability of the system.

“Working with Bureau Veritas has been a pleasure. We were pleased with the in-depth technical scrutiny they applied to our design and trials work, which added real value as we progressed our full-scale FEED.

“The team is looking forward to the next level of qualification as we progress towards that first full-scale deployment,” said Nigel Robinson, Marine Energies Director at Apollo.

“We conducted a comprehensive review of Apollo's PALM QCS FEED design and first approach offshore trial documentation. Constructive feedback throughout the assessment process was appreciated and we feel it supported compliance with subsea industry standards. This collaborative approach between our teams provided the good understanding and confidence for the next step of technology qualification assessment,” added Stéphanie GASC, BV M&O Design Assessment S.U.R.F Engineer.