JDR Wins SeaMade Inter-Array Cable Contract

Hartlepool-based JDR Cables has signed a contract with DEME Offshore to provide inter-array cables and accessories for the SeaMade offshore wind farm in the Belgian North Sea.

JDR, part of the TFKable Group, will design, manufacture and deliver 78.1 kilometres of aluminium core inter-array cables and a range of cable accessories, including repair joints and connectors. The company secured the contract after a competitive tender.

The inter-array cables will carry the electricity generated by the wind farm’s 58 Siemens 8.4MW turbines to an offshore substation for transmission to the offshore grid. The offshore wind power generated is transmitted by a 33kV cable system with hang-offs and connector terminations for 128 cable ends. The cable will be assembled in JDR’s Hartlepool facility, with delivery expected by the end of 2019.

The SeaMade offshore wind farm is located up to 50 kilometres off the coast from Ostend and will integrate two wind sites known as Mermaid and Seastar. The 487MW project is the single largest wind farm being funded and built in Belgium.

Robert Weeks, Sales Manager at JDR, said: “We are extremely proud to have won this competitive tender through our track-record of delivering market-leading cable technology to the offshore wind industry. And we are thrilled to say we are playing a part in Belgium’s largest offshore wind farm.”

The wind farm, developed by SeaMade, which is a consortium of Otary RS (70% stake), Electrabel (17.5%), and Eneco Wind Belgium (12.5%) is expected to be operational by 2020.