The Port of Blyth has welcomed plans for a £130m manufacturing facility making cables for offshore wind farms on the Blyth Estuary that will create 170 new jobs.
JDR Cables, which already has sites at Newcastle and Hartlepool, is to build the plant on quayside located land at the Northumberland Energy Park Phase 1.
The development will be partly funded with a grant from the Government’s Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Support scheme and will be located close to the Port’s three terminals around the river as well as the planned Britishvolt battery gigafactory.
When complete, it will be the only facility in the UK capable of producing high voltage subsea cables for offshore wind farms from start to finish, supporting the growing – and increasingly lucrative – renewable energy market.
Martin Lawlor, Chief Executive of the Port of Blyth, said: “We’re delighted to see confirmation of the news that JDR Cables are to build a cable manufacturing facility on the Blyth Estuary at the Northumberland Energy Park.
We’re proud to have played our part alongside our Energy Central partners in attracting JDR to Blyth and look forward to supporting them and their supply chain throughout the development of the facility and into operation. This news underlines the Port of Blyth’s position as one of the UK’s leading offshore energy hubs and highlights a bright, exciting future for renewables in Blyth.”
Tomasz Nowak, chief executive officer at JDR, said: “As the energy transition gathers pace and the UK’s offshore wind sector continues to thrive, turbines are growing taller and farther from shore, calling for higher voltage subsea cables.
“We’re delighted to build on our legacy as a leading provider of subsea cables to the offshore energy sector by investing in this new facility. We’re also delighted to continue our investment in the North East of England, and in bringing new jobs to Cambois, Blyth and Northumberland. Our proposed facility is strategically located to capitalise on the rapidly growing and largest offshore renewable energy market in Europe.”
Tony Quinn, chair of Energi Coast, the North East England’s offshore wind supply chain cluster, said: “We’re delighted that JDR has selected Cambois, near Blyth, for such a strategically important investment. It will make a significant contribution toward the development of an offshore wind industrial cluster in the North East, strengthening an already well established supply chain and creating hundreds of high value jobs.”
The 69,000 sqm facility will occupy the site of the former coal-fired Blyth Power Station, which has been earmarked for green energy jobs following a £36m programme of works to widen and strengthen the quay and remediate land on the site.
For further information on the Port of Blyth’s capabilities in the offshore wind and subsea cabling sectors or to discuss your requirements with us, please contact Head of Commercial Alasdair Kerr on 07917 374 384.
