South Korea's 'first 500MW-plus' offshore wind project lines up key foundation deal

South Korean contractor SK Ecoplant has become preferred vendor for the transportation and installation of jacket foundations at the 523MW Anma offshore wind farm.

The preferred supplier agreement (PSA) covers the transportation and installation of 38 jacket foundations to the project’s offshore construction site near Anma Island, some 40km off the South Korean province of Jeollanam.

In a statement about the PSA, SK Ecoplant said Anma stands to become South Korea’s first offshore wind project in excess of 500MW and is expected to provide power to more than 1.4 million people annually.

The foundations and jackets are reportedly designed to accommodate 14MW wind turbines.

SK Ecoplant is one of South Korea’s company leading companies for offshore engineering and construction for the oil and gas industry but has also worked on solar and hydrogen projects in North America.

The company’s CEO, Kyung-il Park, was recently appointed as the chairman of the Korea Wind Energy Industry Association.

The biggest offshore wind project in South Korea’s later pipeline is potentially the Ulsan floating wind project, backed by Ocean Winds, a joint venture between EDP Renewables and Engie, together with Aker Offshore Wind.

Ocean Wind secured rights to develop an 870MW array in 2022 and acquired additional floating wind rights in the country as part of a joint venture with Mainstream Renewable Power (33.3%), called KF Wind.

Ulsan has suffered some regulatory delays but got a fillip earlier this month when Ocean Winds (OW) and South Korean Ulsan Metropolitan City signed a letter of intent (LOI) to advance a 1.2GW floating offshore wind project.

Vessel moves

Another South Korean project took an important step forward last week when a first locally built jack up wind turbine installation vessel completed it first turbine installation near Jeju island.

The milestone for the Hyundai Frontier WTIV was reported on social media by one of the vessel’s technology suppliers, Denmark-based Kongsberg Maritime.

In other news, Eneti subsidiary Seajacks signed a reservation agreement that will provide a first contract for the one of the one of the two NG16000X wind turbine installation vessels the company is currently building at the Hanwa Ocean shipyard in South Korea.

The engagement is expected to be between 210 and 245 days in total and generate $87m-$100m in gross revenue, Eneti stated, without disclosing the client.

Offshore wind developers have become increasingly concerned about the availability of WTIV capacity over the rest of the current decade, as vessel capacity is expected to fall behind demand for several years.

Emanuele Lauro, CEO of Eneti, stated: “With net revenues approaching $350,000 per day, the contract reflects the improving fundamentals of offshore wind and current market conditions”.