Norwegian multinational energy company Equinor has formed a consortium with Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) and the Korean power company Korea East-West Power (EWP) to develop the floating offshore wind project Donghae 1 off Ulsan in South Korea.
Equinor said that the consortium has currently started the development of a 200MW floating wind farm, planned to be located near the Donghae natural gas field, operated by KNOC, off the coast of Ulsan City in South Korea.
The consortium is expected to carry out a feasibility study for the wind farm, including the use of the Donghae 1 platform as a substation for a possible wind farm.
Based on the feasibility study results, the consortium is planning to begin constructing a floating offshore wind farm in 2022, which is expected to start power production in 2024.
Equinor New Energy Solutions wind and low carbon cluster senior vice president Stephen Bull said: “We are very pleased to be member of the partnership involved in realising the first floating offshore wind farm in Asia.
“If we succeed in realising the project, the Donghae floating offshore wind project will be the world’s biggest floating wind farm, more than twice the size of Hywind Tampen on the Norwegian continental shelf. A floating offshore wind farm of this size will help further increase the competitiveness of floating offshore wind power in the future,” says Bull.
South Korea intends to transform its energy mix from nuclear power and coal to renewable energy, with an aim to increase renewable energy share in its power production to 20% by 2030.
Equinor signed MoU with KNOC in February
In February 2019, Equinor signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with KNOC to jointly explore the opportunities to develop commercial floating offshore wind in South Korea.
KNOC plans to launch a new floating offshore wind developing business, leveraging its offshore development experiences.
