Contract joy for Hartlepool company as it clinches big deal

An award-winning Hartlepool company has won a new deal to make more than 100 miles of cables for an offshore wind farm
The JDR Cables site in HartlepoolThe JDR Cables site in Hartlepool
The JDR Cables site in Hartlepool

The Greenland Road-based firm JDR will engineer, design and make the cables which will connect 84 turbines for the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Limited (BOWL).

Today, chief executive David Currie described it as a “major project” and said JDR was looking forward to being involved.

Richard Turner.Richard Turner.
Richard Turner.
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The firm won the Manufacturer of the Year crown and the overall Hartlepool Business of the Year title at this year’s Hartlepool Business Awards - the second time it has been judged as best business in town in three years.

And at the start of 2016, bosses exclusively told the Hartlepool Mail of their five-year strategy for growth in the town. They told of plans to expand the capacity for renewable power cables at the Hartlepool plant and for adding a dedicated new facility for subsea production umbilicals.

Now comes another boost as JDR has been awarded its latest subcontract by Siem Offshore Contractors GmBH.

The contract is to supply subsea composite power cables and accessories for the 588 megawatt wind farm which is more than ten miles offshore in the UK’s Outer Moray Firth. It is expected to power around 450,000 homes.

Richard Turner.Richard Turner.
Richard Turner.

Today, Mr Currie welcomed the latest boost for JDR.

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“We are delighted to partner with Siem Offshore Contractors once again on this prestigious project. As the only UK manufacturer of inter-array cable, our technology offers a reliable, high quality solution to the Beatrice project. We have pioneered the development of inter-array cables for offshore wind farms and look forward to supporting another major project”.

Richard Turner, the chief operating officer at the Hartlepool site, said: “The Beatrice project highlights the UK’s commitment to investing in offshore wind energy and our contract is a great example of supporting UK manufacturing and employment.

“We are particularly proud to be working on this project, having provided our first inter-array cables for SSE’s pioneering Beatrice demonstrator project 10 years ago, which included the first 5 MW offshore turbines.”

As well as the cables, JDR will also supply cable terminations, hang-offs and a range of cable accessories.

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JDR will manufacture the cables at its state-of-the-art facility in Hartlepool and expects to deliver the finished product in the Spring of 2018.

The firm has enjoyed phenomenal growth since it first opened in Hartlepool in 2008, expanding from 97,000 sq ft of warehouse space to more than 280,000 sq ft.

It now employs more than 200 people.