Pohang Expands Global Partnership for Clean Energy Linked to Offshore Wind Power

Visit to Global Wind Turbine Company Vestas to Discuss Offshore Wind Power Cooperation

Visit to Middelgrunden Offshore Wind Farm to Explore Solutions for Resident Conflicts and Coexistence

Mayor Lee: “Attracting Offshore Wind Companies... Creating an Energy Innovation Growth Cluster”

Lee Kangdeok, the Mayor of Pohang, who is currently visiting Europe, is expanding the city's global energy partnerships by meeting with offshore wind power stakeholders, including Denmark's wind turbine companies, thereby broadening the scope for securing future new industry growth engines.

The Pohang city delegation visiting Europe visited Vestas, an offshore wind turbine manufacturer located in Copenhagen, Denmark, on the 22nd to convey Pohang's offshore wind market potential and discuss investment attraction.

On the 22nd, the Pohang delegation, including Mayor Lee Kangdeok and City Council Chairman Baek Inkyu, visited ‘Vestas Wind Systems’, an offshore wind turbine manufacturer located in Copenhagen, Denmark, to communicate Pohang’s offshore wind market potential and discuss investment attraction.

Vestas, the world’s number one wind turbine company, relocated its Asia-Pacific headquarters to Seoul last September and is preparing to expand its domestic investment to establish core equipment and component manufacturing plants for wind turbines.

During the visit, the delegation met with Morten Dyrholm, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Public Affairs, to learn about Vestas' wind turbine business and domestic investment status, and explained Pohang’s wind industry infrastructure and investment conditions.

Vice President Morten Dyrholm stated that Vestas plans to strengthen cooperation with domestic companies related to turbine materials and components, such as towers and cables, as well as companies promoting the construction of offshore wind farms in Korea through its investments in the country.

In response, the delegation explained that Pohang is well-equipped with infrastructure such as POSCO, which supplies structural steel for offshore wind turbines; Dongkuk S&C, a wind tower manufacturer; Nexteel, which is preparing to produce steel pipes for offshore wind tower substructures; and support ports for assembling floating offshore wind generators and offshore structures. They expressed that Pohang could become Vestas’ investment hub in Asia and conveyed their intention to invite Vestas executives to Pohang in the near future.

Mayor Lee Kangdeok said, “The east coast of Korea is home to energy-intensive companies clustered along the shoreline, and Pohang is the site of Yeongilman Port, the only container port on the east coast. With Pohang’s clear vision to achieve carbon neutrality through the establishment of an RE100 industrial complex, I hope to solidify the foundation for cooperation with Vestas to build a future clean energy industry ecosystem linked to offshore wind power.”

Before visiting Vestas, the delegation visited the Middelgrunden Offshore Wind Farm, the first in Denmark to be constructed and operated with local residents.

The Middelgrunden Offshore Wind Farm is operated by a cooperative composed of private citizens rather than government agencies or businesses. The delegation listened to Hans Christian Soerensen, Director of the Middelgrunden Wind Cooperative, explain the process and background of local residents’ participation in the development of the wind farm.

The delegation strongly agreed that in order to expand renewable energy such as offshore wind farms, it is essential to first establish conflict resolution processes and mutually beneficial development plans that allow both residents and power generation operators to benefit.

The Middelgrunden Offshore Wind Farm was established with investments of about 30 billion KRW from around 8,000 cooperative members, and it is recognized as a model of energy democracy, as residents directly share the profits from electricity sales based on their shares.

Mayor Lee Kangdeok stated, “As offshore wind power projects expand, this will lead to the growth of related industries such as steel and shipbuilding. We will work to devise mutually beneficial measures with local residents and attract domestic and international offshore wind companies to establish Pohang as a cluster for innovative energy growth.”