Woori Technology Signs MOU with Ulsan City for Offshore Wind Farm Development

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Woori Technology announced on the 11th that it has signed a technical cooperation MOU with Ulsan Metropolitan City and specialized institutions regarding the construction of domestic and international floating offshore wind farms promoted by Ulsan Metropolitan City, together with CGO. CGO is a company with experience in constructing the first commercial offshore wind power plant in Korea, and Woori Technology acquired a 22.95% stake in CGO last July.

In May, Woori Technology formed an industry-academic consortium with CGO, Korea National Oil Corporation, Seoul National University, and ACE E&T, and was selected for a national project to develop floating offshore wind technology. Based on its experience in successfully domesticating the 'nuclear power plant control and instrumentation system,' a core technology of nuclear power plants, Woori Technology is responsible for developing a system that controls and monitors the transportation and installation processes of floating offshore wind systems in the national project.

This MOU was led by Ulsan Metropolitan City and aims to promote mutual cooperation for offshore wind development plans with participation from global companies and state-owned oil companies. The future development consortium will include domestic wind power-related companies such as Ulsan City and Hyundai Steel Industry, as well as major investors leading global investments in the renewable energy sector, including ▲Shell-CoensHexicon ▲CIP-SK E&S ▲Green Investment Group (GIG) ▲KFWind ▲Equinor (Norwegian state-owned oil company).

At the signing ceremony, specific floating wind power technologies were introduced, including the development plan for megawatt (MW)-class floating offshore wind systems, development of optimal offshore wind transportation and installation technologies, and development of 70-kilovolt (kV)-class dynamic cable systems. Woori Technology plans to be responsible for developing the system that controls and monitors the transportation and installation processes of floating offshore wind systems.

A company official stated, “Ulsan City has been the most proactive in promoting floating offshore wind power and plans to establish a large-scale offshore wind farm of over 1GW near the Donghae gas field,” adding, “With active participation from top domestic and international companies including global firms, this will be a considerably large-scale project.”

He continued, “Starting with this MOU, the floating offshore wind power project will gain momentum,” and added, “Participating as a business entity in such a large-scale project means that Woori Technology and CGO have been externally recognized as leading companies in the offshore wind power sector.”