HD Hyundai, Scottish firms to cooperate on offshore wind power

South Korea's HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. announced on Wednesday that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise for cooperation in offshore floating wind projects. 

Under the agreement, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries will share its expertise in the design and manufacturing of floating offshore structures and support the optimization of the supply chain.

The two Scottish economic development organizations plan to explore funding options within Scotland and secure networks with potential suppliers, manufacturing facilities, and investors.

Offshore wind structures require designs and manufacturing processes that consider marine environments, leading shipbuilding companies with extensive experience in marine plants to primarily undertake such projects.

Shipyards are gaining attention as a new growth driver in the shipbuilding industry as they can manufacture large structures without structural changes or equipment investments.

According to a Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) report, the cumulative installed capacity of offshore wind power worldwide is expected to increase from 63.3 gigawatts (GW) in 2022 to 477 GW by 2032.

The UK government announced plans to expand the offshore wind power generation capacity from 11 GW in 2021 to 50 GW by 2030.

It has built the world's first floating offshore wind farm, Hywind Scotland, in the North Sea.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com