With the surging demand for offshore wind power equipment such as lower modules, floating generators, installation, and transport vessels—all of which require shipyard-based production—the South Korean government has established a policy to directly link the shipbuilding industry with the offshore wind infrastructure sector to enhance competitiveness.
It is reported that South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has officially designated “restructuring the shipbuilding industry based on marine energy” as a core policy and plans to release a “Marine Energy Supply Chain Transformation Roadmap” within the year to connect offshore wind power, shipbuilding, equipment, and installation companies. The government will focus on offshore wind-related special zones (such as Sinan County in South Jeolla Province and the Ulsan Floating Offshore Wind Power Complex), expanding the domestic supply chain by retrofitting shipyard facilities and providing support for the production of ultra-large offshore wind equipment and installation vessels. In particular, to develop new offshore support vessels (OSVs) specialized for offshore wind installation and transportation, the government will also assist shipbuilders with R&D and on-site demonstration testing.
In recent years, South Korea’s three major shipbuilders have been actively expanding their presence in the offshore wind equipment sector. Hanwha Ocean has secured orders for four wind turbine installation vessels (WTIVs), the most among South Korean shipbuilders, and has successfully delivered two, with two currently under construction. Leveraging its experience in constructing offshore floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) units and floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facilities, the company is aggressively entering the entire marine energy value chain. While developing wind power projects, it is expanding its business to include offshore wind installation vessels, offshore substations, and floating equipment such as lower modules—areas where it holds a competitive advantage. By utilizing the energy technology R&D capabilities of its parent company, Hanwha Group, Hanwha Ocean not only provides offshore wind development services but also offers integrated solutions covering production, transportation, installation, and maintenance of related products.
One of the four themes of HD Hyundai Group’s new vision, “Ocean Transformation,” announced in 2023, is “Ocean Energy,” aimed at building a sustainable marine energy ecosystem. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has established a dedicated offshore wind task force and formulated a market strategy leveraging its shipbuilding and offshore equipment expertise. The company, in collaboration with international offshore oil and gas engineering service provider DORIS, secured the front-end engineering design (FEED) contract for the “Gray Whale 3” floating offshore wind project off Ulsan, conducting FEED for the floating structure, mooring system, and internal cabling. It was also selected as the preferred bidder (priority negotiator) for the project’s EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) contract. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries aims to optimize the design and industrialization of 33 hull constructions, wind turbine integration, and on-site installation, forming a technical team with Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas—the preferred bidder for supplying turbines for “Gray Whale 3″—to collaborate on the project.
Additionally, HD Hyundai Group is accelerating the development of various technologies to capture the eco-friendly energy market in pursuit of carbon neutrality, including small modular reactor (SMR) projects, a 100MW green hydrogen demonstration project, a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project utilizing gas fields in the East Sea of Korea, and offshore substation projects.
Samsung Heavy Industries, which holds a strong advantage in offshore equipment, also possesses unique competitiveness in the offshore wind installation vessel market. The company was the first South Korean shipbuilder to secure an order for an offshore wind installation vessel. In 2010, it built the world’s largest wind turbine installation vessel, the “Pacific Orca,” for Denmark’s Swire Blue Ocean, delivering it in October 2012. To date, Samsung Heavy Industries has successfully built and delivered three large offshore wind installation vessels. It was also the first among South Korea’s big three shipbuilders to develop a low-emission self-elevating wind turbine installation vessel (model: SWW-FUEL CELL) concept design, receiving Approval in Principle (AIP) certificates from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), DNV, and Lloyd’s Register (LR). Furthermore, the company independently developed the Tri-Star Float, a large underwater floating structure for 9.5MW offshore wind equipment, giving it a greater advantage over competitors reliant on foreign technology.
Samsung Heavy Industries stated that it is not only developing dedicated wind turbine installation vessels but also focusing on floating offshore substations (FOSS) and cable-laying vessels.
A representative from South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy emphasized: “Under the government’s ‘Marine Energy Supply Chain Transformation Roadmap,’ after 2026, South Korean shipbuilders will not only maintain their technological edge in shipbuilding but also strengthen their EPC capabilities in marine energy, ensuring export competitiveness. At that time, South Korea will be the only country capable of providing integrated supply guarantees in the marine energy shipbuilding-supply-installation market.
