UK: British companies VBMS and JDR secure £100 million offshore wind cabling contract

A £30 million boost is earmarked for UK company JDR, which has been selected as a contractor to supply the offshore array cables for Galloper Wind Farm Limited (GWFL). JDR have been sub-contracted by the project’s array cable installation contractor, VBMS (UK) Ltd, 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. Progress on the offshore wind farm is ramping up ahead of planned construction later this year with the next key milestone being Financial Close.

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) Ltd have confirmed an anticipated 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 use our 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.”

Galloper offshore wind farm is an extension of the existing and fully operational Greater Gabbard Wind Farm off the coast of Suffolk. Following community consultation, in-depth site investigations and a thorough examination by the Planning Inspectorate, Galloper was awarded Development Consent in May 2013. The wind farm, which has grid connection secured, represents an expected investment potential of more than £1.3 billion.

It is estimated that the average annual generation expected at the site could be equivalent to the approximate domestic needs of around 336,000 average UK households .

Earlier this year RWE Innogy UK inaugurated the world’s second largest offshore wind farm, Gwynt y Môr, off the coast of North Wales.