[Asia Economy Reporter Su-yeon Woo] Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction announced on the 15th that it has signed a supply contract for the equipment 'Rack & Chord' used in offshore wind turbine installation vessels with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. Under this contract, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction plans to supply a total of 156 racks and chords by 2023.
Rack & Chord is a key structure that makes up the jack-up leg of offshore wind installation vessels, requiring high strength to lift and support a weight of up to 37,250 tons, including the hull and wind turbines. Each rack and chord measures 9 meters in length and weighs about 25 tons, with the rack part featuring a tooth-shaped design made of 250mm thick special steel.
Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction developed high-strength special materials with corrosion resistance and impact resistance tailored to various marine environments such as salt and low temperatures (-40℃), and obtained special material certification from an international ship certification agency last July.
Na Gi-yong, Vice President of Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, said, "By leveraging our capabilities in developing special steel materials for power generation and marine use and our manufacturing experience, we have succeeded in domestic production of rack & chord, which had previously relied on imports. We will continue to expand our business to meet the increasing demand while stably supplying special steel materials to the shipbuilding industry."
Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction has succeeded in domestic production of the rack and pinion. It is a key structure that makes up the lift-type steel legs of offshore wind turbine installation vessels. Photo by Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction
As the offshore wind market rapidly grows worldwide, the demand for offshore wind installation vessels is also increasing. According to VesselsValue, a UK-based shipping and shipbuilding market analysis firm, more than 100 offshore wind installation vessels will be needed over the next decade.
Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, which started its wind power business in 2005, holds the largest domestic supply record for offshore wind power. In preparation for the recent increase in offshore wind orders, it has completed Wind Power Plant 2. It has 3MW and 5.5MW offshore wind turbine models, and plans to commercialize an 8MW model in 2022.
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