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Three of the larger developments – Dogger Bank, Forth and Hornsey – are close to Teesside and Teesport is looking to win a substantial slice of this business. Offshore wind farm projects require vast areas of land for the assembly and manufacture of turbines. In this context, Hartlepool’s Victoria Harbour has the potential to be a major player in the offshore wind and offshore support sectors. This could bring sustained economic growth and jobs to the town. A large degree of offshore expertise already exists in Hartlepool, which has plenty of land suitable for development in the wind farm sector.
JDR Cables A significant development in Hartlepool was the opening in 2009 of a 100,000 sq ft manufacturing facility operated by JDR Cable Systems Ltd, a leading provider of subsea power cables, umbilical systems and marine cables for the energy sector. In fact, it is the only site in the UK designed specifically to manufacture subsea power cables for the oil and gas sector and the offshore renewables market. Located alongside a deepwater quay, this facility incorporates two carousels to supply cables weighing up to 2,200 tonnes. Cables can be spooled directly from the factory to offshore cable-laying vessels. In July 2010 the company announced a 116,000 sq ft expansion of its Hartlepool facilities to cater for the demand for its cables,
Heerema The offshore fabrication company Heerema is another successful operation based in Hartlepool. The company has 28,000 square metres of fabrication area at Victoria Dock and a further 48,000 square metres at Greenland Road.
Heerema is involved in fabrication of offshore oil and gas installations, drilling facilities, integrated decks and modules, jackets and substructure, pipelines and heavy structural steel projects.
Tees Dock Teesport’s facility, further upriver at Tees Dock, has the only deepwater quay on the river, able to berth even the largest offshore support vessels. The quay is used for loading heavy reels and project cargo and for overside transfers of structures built at upriver wharves to deep-draught vessels. Further upriver lies Teesport Commerce Park, owned and managed by PD Ports. This 48 hectare multi-user site is home to about 20 companies including LV Shipping, a multimodal specialist that has developed a niche market for marine and offshore projects. The main cargo handling quay is the 120 metre long Heavy Lift Quay, which is on long-term lease to the offshore vessel operator CTC Marine. The