Siemens Gamesa eyes South Korean offshore wind with strategic Doosan cooperation

South Korea’s offshore wind manufacturing industry is set to rapidly scale up, after Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) and Doosan Enerbility signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to investigate strategic cooperation in the sector. 

The non-binding MoU focuses on boosting the South Korean domestic supply chain and related industries. It will investigate construction of new Korean production facilities, as Doosan Enerbility said it will contribute its domestic production base and business capabilities to the partnership, including supply of wind turbine parts, as well as offshore wind turbine installation and turbine maintenance services. 

SGRE will contribute its global know-how in offshore wind. The European company has installed more than 19.4GW of offshore wind power globally but has no firm orders in South Korea yet, it said, although it is in discussion with several customers.

South Korea is aiming to install 12GW of offshore wind capacity in the eight years to 2030. Aker Offshore Wind and Ocean Winds, Equinor, Total Energies and Green Investment Group and Ørsted are all planning investment.

In China, SGRE has licensed its turbine design to local manufacturers, but the company said its approach in Korea is different. It said, “SGRE and Doosan will continue to offer their turbines through the respective individual sales channels. SGRE believes this approach reflects the needs and openness of the Korean market and will generate maximum value for customers.” 

Doosan Enerbility claims to be the only domestic manufacturer in Korea that has a supply record in domestic offshore wind, with projects in operation including the 30MW Tamra Tamra (30MW) Offshoreoff Geumdeung-ri, Jeju, South Korea, Asia-Pacific Click to see full details. It has an 8MW offshore turbine in development.

The MoU will initially investigate potential products and services optimised for the domestic offshore wind market in South Korea. Beyond that period, facilities in the country could become a manufacturing hub for the region.