PD Ports Welcomes Expansion By JDR Cable Systems To Expand At Hartlepool Dock

Online, July 30, 2010 (Newswire.com) - PD Ports has welcomed the decision by a major supplier to the offshore energy sector to more than double its facility at Hartlepool dock. This news comes as JDR Cable Systems is backed by UK Government funding to help continue its groundbreaking work in wind farm development.

JDR Cable Systems, a leading provider of subsea power cables, umbilical systems and marine cables for the energy sector, has signed a deal to expand its current 100,000 sq ft facility at Hartlepool, opened only last July, by a further 116,000 sq ft to meet demand.

Jerry Hopkinson, PD Ports' MD, bulks, ports and logistics, said: "The expansion of JDR is very good news as it reinforces Hartlepool's position in the offshore renewable energy sector and the confidence our customers have in the port's ability to facilitate the needs of offshore manufacturers. It is evidence that our plans to build a renewable energy supply chain cluster in the region is progressing well."

JDR's purpose-built, state-of-the-art, 100,000 sq ft facility, which incorporates two carousels to process the 2,200 tonne cables, is the only site in the UK designed specifically to manufacture subsea power cables for the oil and gas sector and the burgeoning offshore renewables market.

The location at Hartlepool dock allows the cables to be spooled directly onto cable-laying vessels. The Hartlepool site is also strategically placed for the Dogger Bank's North Sea expansion zone which the UK Government recently targeted as a preferred site for wind farm technology.

JDR has recently completed a 25 km subsea power cable and hub for the South West Regional Development Agency's Wave Hub project - to be deployed off the coast of Cornwall at the end of July. JDR has also just finished work on 200 km of array cables for the Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm and has begun work on 230 km of array cables for the London Array offshore wind farm.

JDR was recently awarded a £2million grant to develop high voltage cables. The award forms part of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC's) plans to help UK companies invest in the equipment and technology required to support the country's transition to a low carbon future.

Patrick Phelan, Managing Director of JDR Cable Systems Ltd, said: "JDR is pleased to be located in Hartlepool with PD Ports as a partner. We have already reaped the benefits of having direct access to the North Sea and the proximity to all the major offshore wind farms currently under development in the UK. In addition, the ability to expand our facilities as the market demands is essential to our strategy of growth and diversification."

A party of journalists specialising in the renewable energy sector visited Teesside recently in a media trip organised by One North East. The visit included a tour of JDR Cable Systems' facility and Hartlepool Dock, as guests of PD Ports.

About PD Ports:

• PD Ports Limited is owned by Canadian based Brookfield. Brookfield is a global asset manager focused on property, renewable power and infrastructure assets, with over $100 billion of assets under management. PD Ports was bought by Brookfield in November 2009.

• PD Ports is a high performing specialist ports business offering a wide variety of supply chain services to improve customers' international product and material movements into and out of - as well as within - the UK.

• PD Ports employs over 1140 members of staff, and generates an annual turnover of over £115 million from many UK locations.

• PD Ports operates throughout the UK from bases at many key ports and logistics centres.

• The 3 business interests of PD Ports are:

o Port Operations- is split into two business streams - bulks and unitised and includes:

 Teesport: one of the top 4 UK ports, with flows of containers, bulk traffics and finished cars, handling almost 40 million tonnes of throughput p.a.

 Humber & Small Ports: owners and/or operators of ports on the Humber estuary, Rivers Trent and Ouse, and at Medina Wharf, Isle of Wight. Service offerings include ships' agency, chartering and stevedoring services.

 Logistics: PD Logistics offers warehousing and distribution services at UK locations throughout the North East, Humberside & East Anglia, including at Felixstowe. Please visit www.pdlogistics.com

Development plans for port operations include:

• The Northern Gateway Container Terminal: a major new deep sea container terminal planned at Teesport on the South side of the River Tees. The £300+ million development will have a capacity of 1.5 million TEU (twenty foot equivalent unit) and is anticipated to deliver over 5,500 jobs to the Tees Valley, when fully operational. Circa 1,300 of the 5,500 new jobs have already been created through portcentric logistics operations in the past four years.

• Portcentric Logistics: a concept promoted by PD Ports for locating the storage and distribution of imported goods close to the point of arrival at a UK port. This concept avoids the slow handling and return of empty containers as well as eradicating unnecessary UK road mileage, which occurs when delivering to a traditional inland import centre, such as in the Midlands.

In 2006 ASDA Wal*Mart opened a 360,000 sq ft import centre at Teesport and has saved more than 8 million road miles by adopting the portcentric concept. Adjacent to the ASDA facility, Tesco operates a purpose built 1.2 million sq ft import centre at Teesport, which opened in 2009.

o Conservancy - this includes:

 Management of river traffic for the ports of Tees and Hartlepool, ensuring safe navigation and maintaining the required channel depth.

o Property- this includes:

 Revenue and income from property and facilities owned by PD Ports and used by third party clients on long term leases.

 Land that is not utilised for operational purposes and offers potential for development.

 Port land at Hartlepool docks, which is highly attractive to the growing renewable energy sector, including offshore, windfarms, and biomass plants. PD Ports' long term strategy is to further develop Hartlepool docks as a centre of excellence for the offshore support sector.

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