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Wind farms

Denmark’s Orsted to build world’s biggest wind farm off S.Korean coast

By Nov 24, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)

2 Min read

Denmark’s Orsted A/S plans to build the world’s biggest offshore wind farm off the west coast of South Korea as the Danish multinational power company expands its presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

At a press conference in Seoul on Nov. 24, the company said it will construct a wind farm with capacity of 1.6 GW a year some 20 km west of Deokjeokdo, an island within the greater Incheon metropolitan area.

Matthias Bausenwein, president of Orsted Asia-Pacific, holds a press conference in Seoul.
Matthias Bausenwein, president of Orsted Asia-Pacific, holds a press conference in Seoul.

The capacity of the proposed wind farm, generating enough electricity to power 1.3 million homes a year, is 2.4 times that of the Walney Extension wind farm operated by Orsted off the coast of Blackpool, England. The Walney Extension is currently the world’s largest wind farm with a capacity of 659 MW a year.

Orsted, the world’s largest operator of offshore wind farms, said at Tuesday’s press conference that it aims to build about 100-140 wind turbines for the Korean project by 2026. The project will help create 11,000 new jobs and reduce carbon dioxide by 4 million tons, it said.

Matthias Bausenwein, president of Orsted Asia-Pacific, said at the media briefing that the company is considering investing 7 trillion-8 trillion won ($6.3 billion-$7.2 billion) in the project.

ORSTED TO SECURE COMPONENTS FROM KOREA

The company will secure key components such as cables and offshore structures from Korean suppliers, including POSCO, Hyosung Corp. and LS Cable & System Ltd., he said.

Orsted’s advance into the Korean wind farm market follows the Moon Jae-in government's announcement in October of the Green New Deal initiative, a multibillion-dollar plan to invest in green infrastructure, clean energy and eco-friendly vehicles.

The Walney Extension offshore wind farm operated by Orsted off the coast of Blackpool, England (Courtesy of Orsted)
The Walney Extension offshore wind farm operated by Orsted off the coast of Blackpool, England (Courtesy of Orsted)

As part of the plan, Korea aims to generate 12 GW of electricity a year from offshore wind farm facilities by 2030.

In a related development, LS Cable said on Tuesday it has signed a deal giving the Korean cable maker priority rights to supply offshore cables to Orsted over the next five years.

Orsted, the largest energy company in Demark, is 50.1% owned by the Danish government and operates about 30% of the offshore wind farms around the world.

The Danish company entered the Asian wind farm market in 2019 with the construction of a 128 MW wind farm in Taiwan. It has also undertaken a project to build the Greater Changhua 1 & 2 offshore wind farms in Taiwan.

In March of last year, Orsted said it will build an offshore wind farm in Japan in partnership with Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO).

Write to Jae-Kwang Ahn at ahnjk@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.
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