SK Construction-Doosan Heavy Industries Promote Eco-Friendly Floating Offshore Wind Power Project

SK Engineering & Construction announced on the 19th that on the 18th, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on technology development and cooperation for the promotion of floating offshore wind power projects with 15 domestic and international offshore wind design, manufacturing, and construction companies at its headquarters in Gwanhun-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Anjaehyun, President of SK Engineering & Construction (fourth from the left in the front row), and representatives from the 15 companies attending the signing ceremony are taking a commemorative photo after the event. (Provided by SK Engineering & Construction)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] SK Engineering & Construction has begun full-scale promotion of the "floating offshore wind power project," which is gaining attention as an eco-friendly renewable energy source. SK E&C plans to form a "one team" with domestic and international companies such as Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction and Dohwa Engineering for this purpose.

On the 18th, SK E&C announced on the 19th that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on technology development and cooperation for the promotion of floating offshore wind power projects with 15 domestic and international offshore wind power design, manufacturing, and construction companies at its headquarters in Gwanhun-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Floating offshore wind power generates electricity by floating wind turbines like buoys far out at sea without building foundations on the seabed. It is evaluated to be freer from site restrictions and minimizes infringement on fishing rights while preserving the environment and natural scenery to the greatest extent possible. Compared to onshore or nearshore, it can utilize faster wind speeds to produce high-efficiency power, contribute to regional economic revitalization and job creation through large-scale power plant complexes, and also help stabilize domestic power supply and demand.

About 30 officials attended the signing ceremony, including SK E&C President Ahn Jae-hyun, offshore wind power design companies Dohwa Engineering, Yushin, and Gentek, major equipment manufacturers Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, LS Electric, Dongguk S&C, Samkang M&T, Human Composite, Geonhwa Industry, Sejin Heavy Industries, domestic construction specialists CGO, KT Submarine, Ocean CNI, and leading overseas construction companies Van Oord from the Netherlands and Jan De Nul from Belgium. They agreed to mutually cooperate across all aspects of the domestic floating offshore wind power project.

Through this agreement, SK E&C plans to actively discover business opportunities and establish a "One Team Operation" system that moves as a single team from the early stages of the project through close collaboration with domestic and international designers, equipment manufacturers, and construction companies.

Earlier, to promote the project in earnest, SK E&C also partnered with global developers. On the 13th, SK E&C signed an MOU with Green Investment Group (GIG), a global green energy development and investment specialist, and Total, a French global energy company. Through this, SK E&C aims to solidify its position as a professional developer performing all project stages from initial development to EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction), operation, and maintenance, leading the domestic floating offshore wind power sector.

Green Investment Group and Total signed a partnership agreement in July and are currently developing a 2.3GW floating offshore wind power project in Korea. SK E&C was invited to participate in the project through this agreement, recognized for its excellent technology and abundant experience.

SK E&C took its first step in this field by obtaining power generation permits through the Ulsan Southeast Coast offshore wind power project in 2018 and has been preparing for floating offshore wind power projects in earnest since early this year. It is currently developing projects with capacities of 800MW on the west coast and 136MW in Ulsan.

Based on its EPC experience in offshore floating bodies and marine/port construction projects domestically and internationally, SK E&C plans to secure advanced technology through cooperation with world-class companies. In particular, it aims to secure core technology for floating bodies, the key components of floating offshore wind power, to enhance global competitiveness and develop a Korean-style floating body model optimized for domestic conditions. To this end, it is actively recruiting global experts in related fields.

SK E&C President Ahn Jae-hyun said, "Taking this agreement as an opportunity, we will closely cooperate with various stakeholders to develop technology and continuously discover business opportunities to achieve mutual growth. We will also ensure the success of developing a Korean-style floating body independent model and nurture it as a new future growth engine."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.