Hanwha Ocean has kicked off its offshore wind power business in earnest.
Hanwha Ocean said on the 23rd that it signed an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction turnkey) contract for the Shinan Ui offshore wind power project. The Shinan Ui offshore wind project is a large-scale project to create a 390MW offshore wind farm in the waters southeast of Ui Island, Shinan County, South Jeolla Province.
To strengthen its global offshore wind and onshore/offshore plant EPC business, Hanwha Ocean last month created a new Energy Plant Division and is focusing on new orders.
The contract will be carried out jointly by Hanwha Ocean and Hyundai E&C, with a total contract value of 2.64 trillion won. Of this, Hanwha Ocean's contract amount is 1.9716 trillion won.
Hanwha Ocean has led the overall development, including securing key permits and improving community acceptance, and Korea Midland Power Co. (KOMIPO), Hyundai E&C, and SK eternix are participating as shareholders. In addition, the company selected Korea Development Bank and KB Kookmin Bank as project financing (PF) arrangers and is proceeding with PF procedures. The Future Energy Fund, created by Korea Development Bank and the five major commercial banks, plans to invest 544 billion won, including equity investment and subordinated loans.
Through this project, Hanwha Ocean selected domestic corporations as partners for key supply chains such as subsea cables, substructure fabrication, and offshore installation. It also plans to build a WTIV (wind turbine installation vessel) capable of installing 15MW-class turbines, a first in Korea, and deploy it to the Shinan Ui offshore wind project.
The global offshore wind market is expected to grow rapidly from 83GW on a cumulative completion basis last year to 441GW by 2034, but the domestic market remains around 0.35GW this year due to permitting procedures, community acceptance, and infrastructure and financing issues. In response, the government recently announced plans to expand basic infrastructure such as ports and vessels, aiming to deploy 25GW of offshore wind by 2035.
Philippe Levy, head of Hanwha Ocean's Energy Plant Division (president), said, "The Shinan Ui offshore wind EPC contract is an important turning point as Hanwha Ocean expands its business scope beyond shipbuilding and offshore into eco-friendly energy infrastructure," adding, "Based on our EPCIO capabilities that cover everything from design to construction, installation, and operation, we will make tangible contributions to revitalizing Korea's offshore wind industry ecosystem and achieving carbon neutrality."