HD Hyundai to boost offshore wind power, future ships, CEO says

LAS VEGAS – HD Hyundai Co., the largest shipbuilding conglomerate in South Korea, is set to diversify its future growth engines, focusing on sustainability and maritime technology.

"Oceans have a potential value of more than $24 trillion. We will capitalize on the potential and open the era of our new vision, Ocean Transformation," HD Hyundai CEO Chung Ki-sun said during a press conference on the eve of the opening day of CES 2023 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas.

The CEO, the eldest son of HD Hyundai’s largest shareholder Chung Mong-joon, took the helm in March 2022.  

The chief said HD Hyundai, formerly Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, will take a new approach to the sea to maximize its potential value.

Ocean Transformation is categorized into four businesses: ocean energy, a clean energy solution by using offshore wind and small module reactors (SMRs); ocean mobility, future ships including unmanned surface vessels; ocean life, development of autonomous ship technology; and ocean wise, big data of ships, ports and climate.

HD Hyundai has recently been accelerating the ocean energy business. Last December, its affiliate Hyundai Electric & Energy Systems Co. signed a strategic partnership agreement with GE Renewable Energy, a General Electric unit, to manufacture offshore wind turbines and generators in Korea.  

The two companies will collaborate to produce the world's most economical and eco-friendly energy, Jan Kjaersgaard, CEO of Offshore Wind at GE Renewable Energy, said at the press conference.

The shipbuilding giant is also boosting its global SMR business. Last November, it clinched a deal to invest $30 million in TerraPower, a US nuclear power venture founded by Bill Gates, to make its foray into the carbon-free energy market. 

In addition, HD Hyundai is developing autonomous navigation technology through its subsidiary Avikus, which has commercialized the technology for recreational boats for the first time in Korea. The unit is slated to bolster the navigation system by using big data that HD Hyundai affiliates own.

HD Hyundai's shipbuilding business outperformed last year. 

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), HD Hyundai’s intermediate shipbuilding holding company, won orders for 197 units of ships for $24 billion in 2022. The earnings exceeded its annual goal by 37%, the CEO said.

The conglomerate's shipbuilding slots have been occupied for the ships to be constructed during 2023-2026, and orders of eco-friendly ships are expected to increase, Chung added.

The shipbuilding group is aiming to receive orders of $15.7 billion this year, less than $17.4 billion last year. It had to cut the target due to the limited space of the shipbuilding slots, Chung said.

Write to Ik-Hwan Kim at lovepen@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.