GE plans South Korea offshore wind plant under Hyundai partnership

Local giant will help localise Haliade-X manufacturing and partners may form joint venture if larger orders flow

GE Haliade X prototype in the port of Rotterdam
GE Haliade X prototype in the port of RotterdamFoto: Danny Cornelissen / GE Renewable Energy

GE Renewable Energy plans to build a factory for nacelles and generators of its Haliade-X turbines in South Korea as part of a strategic partnership deal signed with Hyundai Electric.

The US-owned wind OEM also intends to set up a joint venture with the unit of Korean industrial conglomerate Hyundai Heavy Industries if the two partners win larger volumes of offshore wind orders in the East Asian country.

“This agreement will enhance our ability to serve local customers, create significant local economic benefits, and establish a local supply chain ideally suited to serve the growing offshore wind market in South Korea and potentially beyond in APAC,” said Fabrice Kermorgant, chief commercial officer at GE Offshore Wind.

The partnership agreement follows up on a MoU signed in February in which the two companies had already signalled their intention to develop and commercialise turbines of up to 15MW for the emerging South Korean offshore wind market.
The country aims to build 12GW of offshore wind by 2030, and has already attracted the attention of other heavyweight OEMs and offshore wind developers such as oil & gas giant Shell, which plans to build the 1.3GW MunmuBaram floating wind project off the southeastern city of Ulsan together with Swedish floating wind pioneer Hexicon.
GE rival Vestas earlier this year also said it could open offshore wind factories in South Korea, after forming a joint venture with tower manufacturer CS Wind, while Siemens Gamesa said it mulls building plants there with Doosan Enerbility (formerly Doosan Heavy Industries).

Under the terms of the partnership deal signed now, Hyundai Electric will serve as a manufacturing associate to help localise assembly of GE’s Haliade-X offshore wind turbines and generators in South Korea. The companies also see a potential to leverage the planned South Korean base for exporting generator component.

“We are pleased to produce and supply GE’s latest wind turbines in Korea,” said Hyundai Electric chief executive Seok Cho.

“We will actively go into the domestic offshore wind market, and we will do our best to support our government to achieve 2030 Nationally Determined Contributions.”

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Published 14 December 2022, 09:39Updated 14 December 2022, 11:35
Asia-PacificSouth KoreaGEHyundai Heavy Industriesfloating