Korean Companies to Supply Structures for World's Largest Offshore Wind Farm

Panoramic view of the Hornsea Project, the world's largest offshore wind farm under development in the UK

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] SeAH Steel Holdings announced on the 10th that it will supply large-scale monopiles to a project being developed by Ørsted, the global No.1 offshore wind power company from Denmark, in the North Sea area of the United Kingdom. Monopiles are the most widely used type of substructure for offshore wind power facilities.

Previously, SeAH Steel Holdings established its UK production subsidiary SeAH Wind and has been dedicating efforts to the local project, exchanging technology with Ørsted for about a year and a half since early last year. Ørsted is a Danish state-owned offshore wind and energy company known for leading global offshore wind projects. SeAH explained, "Supplying monopiles, a core product of wind power generation, means that our company’s technological capabilities and potential as a global offshore wind specialized company have been recognized."

The monopiles produced by SeAH Wind will be supplied to Hornsea 3, the final zone of the Hornsea project in the UK North Sea, which is being developed as the world’s largest offshore wind farm. Up to 300 offshore wind turbines will be installed, with a generation capacity reaching 2.4 GW. This scale corresponds to the amount of electricity consumed by 2 million households in one day.

SeAH Wind is the only monopile supplier in the UK and expects additional orders across Europe following its participation in this project. The company is building a factory within the Able Marine Energy Park site in the UK, near the Humber River close to the North Sea offshore wind area. The factory will have an annual production capacity of 240,000 tons, with construction starting early next year and aiming to be operational within 2023.

With the UK government planning to increase offshore wind power capacity to 40 GW by 2030 and emphasizing locally produced products, the company anticipates growing demand for its products. Lee Ju-seong, Vice President of SeAH Steel Holdings, said, "We consider it very meaningful to participate as a monopile supplier in the Hornsea 3 project, the world’s largest offshore wind farm development."