Ørsted links with Korean steel firm for offshore wind and H2

Offshore wind developer Ørsted and South Korean steel manufacturer POSCO have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on the development of Ørsted’s 1.6GW offshore wind pipeline of projects off the coast of Incheon City. 

Additionally, the two companies have said they will conduct feasibility studies on potential collaboration on renewable hydrogen.

South Korea has an ambitious target of installing 12GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 as part of its plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. 

Last November, Ørsted confirmed plans to develop 1.6GW of offshore wind off Incheon City. It is also supporting the country’s transition to cleaner energy by “pioneering renewable energy development”, it stated. It opened its Seoul office in 2018.

Matthias Bausenwein, president of Ørsted Asia-Pacific, said the MoU was “a major step for Ørsted”. He said the developer was committed to the Incheon projects “and potentially more build-outs in other regions of the country”. 

“In addition to greening the electricity mix, offshore wind can become the feedstock for renewable hydrogen which can help decarbonise sectors that cannot be directly electrified such as transport and heavy industry,” Bausenwein added.

Ørsted CEO Mads Nipper added: “We are determined to be a global catalyst for systemic change and to help countries and companies undertake their green transformation through scaling existing green energy solutions such as wind and solar, and developing and scaling new green solutions such as hydrogen.” 

POSCO has supplied more than 100,000 tonnes of steel to Ørsted for a number of offshore wind farms in Europe. Last December, POSCO announced its ambition to become a leading renewable hydrogen company and reach carbon neutrality by 2050. It plans to get actively involved in the hydrogen supply chain and to start using hydrogen in steelmaking.

Jung-son Chon, POSCO group senior executive vice president, said: “POSCO has placed its hydrogen business as one of our growth engines for the group and is working to discover renewable hydrogen business opportunities. We hope to see our renewable hydrogen business pick up speed through this business collaboration with Ørsted.”

Ørsted recently started construction of its first renewable hydrogen demonstration project H2RES in Denmark. It is involved in nine renewable hydrogen projects in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.