UK companies VBMS (UK) Ltd and JDR secure £100 million offshore wind cabling contract
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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[1].
Earlier this year RWE Innogy UK inaugurated the world’s second largest offshore wind farm, Gwynt y Môr, off the coast of North Wales.
For more information visit our website: www.galloperwindfarm.com
Ends
For Further Information:
Regan Burford, Global Marketing and Communications Manager
regan.burford@jddrglobal.com
Notes to editor
Galloper Wind Farm will be located off the Suffolk Coast. We were awarded the rights to develop an extension to the Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm by The Crown Estate. RWE Innogy pools the renewable energy expertise and generating plant of the RWE Group. RWE Innogy is fully committed to growth in renewable energy across Europe and the UK continues to play a significant role. RWE Innogy UK is a sister company to RWE npower, a leading UK energy company.
For further information about RWE Innogy UK and RWE Innogy visit www.rwe.com and www.rweinnogy.com For further information about RWE npower visit www.rwenpower.com
Galloper Wind Farm Ltd. is a joint venture between RWE Innogy and SSE. SSE have announced their withdrawal from the project but continue to be a strategic partner whilst new partners are brought on board. The Project is now in the detailed design work phase, involving its supply chain partners and potential equity finance partners.
Footnotes
[1] Energy predicted to be generated by the proposal is derived using wind speeds monitored in the local area and correlating to suitable reanalysis weather data providing longer term data. The calculations are based on an installed capacity of up to 336 MW. The energy capture predicted and hence derived homes equivalent or emissions savings figures may change as further data are gathered.
Equivalent homes supplied is based on an annual electricity consumption per home of 4500 kWh. This figure is supported by recent domestic electricity consumption data available from The Digest of UK Energy Statistics and household figures from the UK Statistics Authority.