Norway’s Equinor has partnered with Korean East-West Power (EWP) on 3 GW of offshore wind projects in South Korea.
Equinor said that its partnership with EWP, one of Korea’s state-owned power generation companies, provides a strong basis for the offshore wind major to take a leading role in developing a pipeline of offshore wind projects needed.
The Norwegian energy giant added that given the Korean coastal water depths, floating solutions are required to realise the South Korean government’s renewables ambitions. South Korea has set out an ambition to grow renewables by around 60 GW to 2034, of which 12 GW is targeted for offshore wind by 2030.
“We want to develop the first commercial floating offshore wind farm in South Korea. We have worked with the Korean supply chain for many years and know its qualities and capabilities. We see a big potential to leverage our experience in building a new industry together with Korea’s world-class supply chain,” said Pål Eitrheim, executive vice president in Renewables in Equinor.
Equinor is the operator of the world’s first floating wind farm, 30 MW Hywind Scotland, and is currently constructing the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm under development, 88 MW Hywind Tampen, both in the North Sea. While both these wind farms apply the Hywind technology, Equinor will use the Wind Semi for its projects in South Korea as this technology has been developed specifically for Korean waters and local conditions.
