A £20M factory making underwater cables for the world’s largest wind farm has been officially opened.
Last year, JDR Cables announced it was developing an umbilical cable manufacturing facility in the deep-water berth at Hartlepool dock.
About 20 staff have been employed at the site, understood to be the only one in the UK designed to manufacture subsea cables of up to 2,200 tonnes for the offshore wind, oil and gas sectors. About 70 more staff are expected to be taken on in the next 18 months.
The company signed a 15- year lease with site owner PD Ports in July last year, and an existing warehouse has been converted to house the 100,000sq ft facility.
Its contracts include one for the Greater Gabbard project, 16 miles off the Suffolk coast and the world’s largest wind farm for which it will supply 200km of inter-array cables for the 140 wind turbine generators.
JDR has invested £20m in the facility and received a £850,000 selective finance for investment grant from development agency One North East.
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