Cambois windfarm cable factory to create 170 jobs

The new factory will make high voltage underwater cables to connect to offshore windfarms

A firm that makes cables for offshore windfarms will create 170 jobs at a new factory near Blyth, it has claimed.

JDR Cable Systems is receiving government funds and private investment totalling £130m to open a factory at Cambois and "protect" 270 jobs at its existing site in Hartlepool.

The government said it is creating thousands of jobs in the wind energy sector in the North East.

JDR makes high-voltage cables to connect to the offshore farms.

The firm's chief executive officer, Tomasz Nowak, said he was "delighted" with the plans, adding: "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."

Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the UK's offshore wind farms are a "major industrial success story".

He said: "Thanks to the £130m investment, JDR Cable Systems' new Blyth facility will supply its Hartlepool site with state-of-the-art cable cores and high voltage underwater cabling that will enable the UK to compete more effectively with foreign manufacturers and increase its standing in global export markets."

He said the aim is to have at least 60% of the country's offshore wind farm technology and infrastructure made in the UK.