Offshore cable maker JDR Cable Systems on Tuesday announced plans for UK government-backed Northumberland-based manufacturing facility, creating 170 UK jobs.
The subsea cable and umbilical supplier and servicer, part of the TFK Group, will open a subsea cable manufacturing facility in Cambois, near Blyth, Northumberland.
Subject to final agreements, construction is expected to start in 2022 ahead of a 2024 opening, creating 170 "high-quality" local jobs on completion and safeguarding 270 jobs at JDR’s existing facilities.
The initial project investment is estimated at £130 million (~$176 million), which will be part funded by a grant from the BEIS Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Support (OWMIS) scheme. JDR and TFK plans to raise the remaining funding with support expected from financial institutions and UK Export Finance.
"The new facility is the first stage of JDR’s plans to expand its product portfolio to support the growing global renewable energy market, adding high voltage export and long length array cables to its existing capacity and product capabilities," JDR said .
JDR said that further stages of the development could result in over 400 staff working at the site, with supplied products complementing JDR’s existing capacity provided by the company’s Hartlepool and Littleport UK manufacturing centers.
When complete, the facility will include a new catenary continuous vulcanisation (CCV) line, making it the only facility in the UK capable of full start-to-finish manufacturing of high voltage subsea cables for offshore wind farms to support the growing global renewable energy market.
The 69,000 sqm facility will occupy the site of the former coal-fired power station, continuing Northumberland’s emergence as a hub for renewable energy engineering and industry.