Hartlepool company's deal with Taiwan

The town’s JDR Cable Systems, which supplies power cables to the offshore energy industry, has won an impressive new international contract.

JDR, owned by the TFKable Group, has been selected by Jan De Nul Group to manufacture and supply inter-array, export and land cables for Taiwan’s Formosa 1 development.

This is Taiwan’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm and is being developed by Formosa Wind Power Co, which is a partnership between Macquarie Capital Group Limited, Orsted AS and Swancor Renewable Energy Co Ltd.

Phase one of the development is already operational with two offshore wind turbines and the next phase will add another 20 installations to it.

JDR will start production later this year on providing 21km of inter-array cable, 13km of export cable and a further 16km of land cable to transmit power from the shore to the local substation.

These cables will be manufactured at JDR’s state-of-the-art facility in Hartlepool, before being shipped to Taiwan and the project is targeted for completion in 2019.

Richard Turner, chief executive officer at JDR, said: “Our customers are our partners – we work collaboratively to deliver reliable solutions for even the most challenging projects.

“Jan De Nul is an established offshore installation contractor with over 20 years’ experience in Taiwan, so we’re thrilled to be working with them to deliver our first project there.”

JDR will also provide 26 offshore and eight onshore technicians to provide cable installation support, cable accessory fitment and post-installation testing services, and will supply a range of accessories including the cable protection systems.

Wouter Vermeersch, manager of offshore cables at Jan De Nul Group, said: “We needed a strong partner with a proven track record for manufacturing and supplying subsea and land cables.

“Every element of this project requires quality at every stage and delivery on time.”

Mr Turner added: “Taiwan is one of the most exciting and ambitious emerging markets for renewable energy with a strong committed pipeline of offshore wind projects.

“At JDR our strategy has been to build knowledge and experience locally and export that globally, so every market we enter and every project we deliver has the same dedication to quality.

“We’re thrilled to be bringing our people and technology to Taiwan and to making Formosa a success.”