JDR has been sub-contracted to supply the offshore array cables for Galloper Wind Farm Limited (GWFL) by the project’s array cable installation contractor, VBMS (UK), in an overall deal worth around £100 million.

JDR will produce 56 sub-sea inter-array cables for the Galloper offshore wind farm, which will be located off the coast of Suffolk.

The array cables will be manufactured during 2016, at the company’s Hartlepool facilities in the North East of England, where they have a workforce of over 180 personnel. As a result of the partnership VBMS (UK) have confirmed a growth in their UK workforce with plans to open a second office in the Birmingham area to accommodate their expanding UK activities.

Toby Edmonds, GWFL Project Director, said: “To date Galloper has invested £150 million on development, of which the majority has been spent with UK based suppliers from as far afield as Aberdeen, Peterborough, Manchester and Cardiff.

He added: “Today’s announcement equates to a further multi million pound boost to the UK’s supply chain. We expect around 700 jobs to be created during construction of the wind farm, and 92 long term jobs to be established once it is operational.”

David Currie, CEO at JDR, said: “We are extremely proud to have been appointed to supply the array cables for the Galloper Offshore Wind Farm. Our experience and expertise in the renewables industry has grown considerably in recent years including the supply of cables for Galloper’s sister wind farm Greater Gabbard.

He added: “Awards such as Galloper form the basis of our continued investment in talent - in both developing our current workforce as well as our ongoing support of the JDR apprenticeship and graduate programmes.”

Arno van Poppel, CEO of VBMS, said: “We are very pleased to have signed this contract for Galloper Wind Farm Ltd. Our valuable experience with similar projects such as Nordsee Ost for our client RWE Innogy, will enable us to useour technology and expertise in order to successfully deliver this prestigious project. In order to anticipate the growing potential for VBMS in the UK, we are expanding our activities and local presence.”