SK Ecoplant Completes Acquisition of Samkang M&T... Full-Scale Offshore Wind Power Business Launch

Lee Seung-chul Appointed as Executive Officer in Charge of SK Ecoplant W Project and Newly Named CEO of Samkang M&T

Lee Seung-chul, new CEO of Samkang M&T.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] SK Ecoplant has completed the acquisition of Samkang M&T, a manufacturer of offshore wind foundation structures, and is set to actively pursue its offshore wind power business.

On the 31st of last month, SK Ecoplant finalized the acquisition process by paying the purchase price for the share purchase agreement (SPA) to secure management rights of Samkang M&T. On the same day, Lee Seung-chul, SK Ecoplant's W Project General Manager, was newly appointed as the CEO of Samkang M&T.

Newly appointed CEO Lee Seung-chul is a civil engineering expert with extensive experience in technical estimation and risk management, recognized as a global business management professional. After serving as an executive in R&D, new business development, and technical sales, he was appointed in January this year as the head of the W Project (pursuing the acquisition of Samkang M&T).

Samkang M&T, listed on KOSDAQ in 2008, is a manufacturer of thick-walled steel pipes, shipbuilding, and plant structures. It has infrastructure including a 930,000㎡ site and a berth in Goseong, Gyeongnam, and possesses world-class manufacturing capabilities for offshore wind turbine foundation structures.

Offshore wind turbine foundation structures are key components supporting offshore wind turbines. Currently, Taiwan is the main export market, and the company has secured global clients such as Denmark’s Ørsted, the world’s top offshore wind developer, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), and Belgium’s Jan De Nul, earning global recognition for its technology.

Based on this technological prowess, the company continues to win domestic and international offshore wind projects. Last month, it was selected as part of the consortium to carry out the basic design for the 1.5GW-scale “Gwisin-go-rae 3” floating offshore wind power complex to be built off the coast of Ulsan, in partnership with French and British companies. Additionally, it signed an exclusive supply contract worth approximately KRW 600.7 billion for foundation structures at the largest-ever Hai Long offshore wind complex in Taiwan.

Performance is also on the rise. Samkang M&T recorded a record-high cumulative order amount of about KRW 1.36 trillion in 2021, with half of the orders coming from the offshore wind sector. Last year, sales reached approximately KRW 503 billion, growing more than 17% compared to the previous year. In the first half of this year, sales increased by over 50% year-on-year to about KRW 340.5 billion, and operating profit more than doubled to approximately KRW 37.5 billion.

Samkang M&T is also advancing plans to build a 1.6 million㎡ offshore wind foundation production plant in Goseong, Gyeongnam, with an investment of about KRW 500 billion. The new plant will be capable of producing an additional 650,000 tons of offshore wind foundation structures annually, making it the largest production capacity worldwide.

Lee Seung-chul, the new CEO of Samkang M&T, stated, "Leveraging our unparalleled capabilities in the offshore wind sector, we will contribute to securing SK Ecoplant’s offshore wind value chain and strengthen business competitiveness for global market expansion."

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