The project consortium of DONG Energy, E.ON and Masdar has awarded JDR Cable Systems a contract for the supply of subsea power array cables for the first phase of London Array Offshore Wind Farm.

The first phase of the development, consisting of 175 wind turbines and two offshore substations, will be installed in water depths of up to 23 m some 20 km (12 mi) from the Kent and Essex coasts in the outer Thames Estuary. The wind farm will be connected by subsea export cables to an onshore substation at Cleve Hill, on the North Kent coast. From the substation, the electricity will be fed into the existing 400 kV transmission network.

The scope awarded to JDR includes the engineering, design and manufacture of more than 200 km of 33 kV array cables complete with proprietary hang-off and termination systems, providing the essential link among individual wind turbine generators, wind turbine generator arrays and the offshore substations. The cables will be produced in 2010 and 2011.

When complete the first phase of London Array will be among the world’s largest offshore wind farms, delivering up to 630 MW. This is enough power for approximately 470,000 homes and will make a substantial contribution to the UK government’s target of providing 15% of all electricity supply from renewable sources by 2015.