Spade hits the ground on Cammell Laird Shore Power Project.

A cutting-edge £7m project at Cammell Laird to deliver a zero-carbon onshore power solution has reached an important milestone.

The scheme will be the first of its kind in the UK, removing the dependence of vessels undergoing repair, refit or build on fossil fuel-based power supplies at the Birkenhead shipyard.

The groundbreaking work follows a £3.5m funding award by the UK Department for Transport’s Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition Round 4 (CMDC4).

Appointed contractor Integrum will now carry out the HV upgrade to the facility which will enable the delivery of clean power to vessels alongside and in dry dock at the site on the banks of the Mersey.

The new phase of work marks the beginning of a six-month civils project comprising two main work packages. The first will include an upgrade to the existing Cammell Laird site HV distribution substations, with a full site wide asset replacement of ageing infrastructure. Also included in the works is a relocation of some current assets into new external GRP solutions for Substation No1-B and Substation 5. In addition, an extensive HV cable overlay installation will allow the facility to increase the site’s capacity for the new shore power solutions. Package two involves the installation of new HV connection points across the facility for the shore power units.

Mike Hill, Managing Director at Cammell Laird, said: “This is a key milestone in the project and an exciting step towards delivering the installation of the new shore power system at Cammell Laird.

“Sustainable shore power plays a vital role in global and national efforts to reduce the impact of the maritime industry on the environment. Our strategy at Cammell Laird is to achieve Net Zero across our operations by 2030.”

He added: “It was fantastic to invite the project teams, contractors, installation and delivery teams together to celebrate the beginning of such an important project.”

Cammell Laird is one of the most famous names in shipbuilding history. Part of the APCL Group, it provides ship repair, conversion and in-service support to commercial and defence vessels and is a centre of excellence for ferries, mobilisation and demobilisation works, jack-ups, pontoons and tankers and MoD defence vessels.

David McGinley, CEO of APCL Group said: "Cammel Laird and the wider APCL Group sustains 100 per cent of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and also provides vital ship repair services to the Royal Navy and the International Seaborne community.

“This shore power project will further the Ministry of Defence's and the wider maritime industry’s commitment to reducing the impact of vessels on the environment and it is testament to the vital services we deliver and our reputation in the industry that we were chosen by UK Government to be one of the recipients of this funding.”

Attending the event included representatives from the Cammell Laird project team and civils contractor Integrum.

Daniel Hill, Operations Manager of Integrum Power Engineering (IPE), part of the OCU group said: “IPE is honoured to be included and entrusted with delivering Cammell Laird’s ambitious journey to a Net Zero strategy through the utilization of shore power. This unique, one-of-a-kind project in the UK presents a number of complications and challenges throughout its delivery, including ensuring that disruption to the ship repair facility is kept to a minimum.

“Through extensive preconstruction and design, a solution was proposed with a flexible delivery model that allowed for minimal disruption and maximum efficiencies. Key factors in our design included supply resilience and maximum utilization to ensure the maximum uptime of the shore power solutions.”

Charles Darling, Project manager of IPE, said: “Integrum are thrilled to be involved in a project that is a brand-new industry to us which coincides with what we as a business are aiming to achieve which is to be net carbon zero by 2030. This presents new engineering challenges that we are delighted to be at the forefront of, as no doubt we will take the skills and experience learnt from this and adapt them to upcoming projects.

James Lovett, Innovation Lead for Future Maritime Technologies, said: “It’s great to see the Cammell Laird and Integrum’s innovative shore power project reach this significant milestone and we’re excited for the next stage. Innovate UK is proud to support this UK shipyard’s R&D journey to reduce their carbon emissions with funding from DfT’s UK SHORE programme."

This project is part of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition Round 4 (CMDC4), funded by the UK Department for Transport (DfT) and delivered by Innovate UK. CMDC4 is part of the Department’s UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) programme, a £206m initiative focused on developing the technology necessary to decarbonise the UK domestic maritime sector.

APCL company A&P Falmouth is also developing a £12m cutting-edge Green Shore Power Project following funding from ZEVI. The Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure (ZEVI) scheme is part of the Government’s UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) programme.

ENDS