Vestas Will Supply 15-MW Turbines for South Korean Offshore Wind Project
Vestas will supply 33 of the company’s wind turbines for a major floating offshore wind project in South Korea. The Ulsan Gray Whale 3 installation, which was announced in March of this year with few details, is part of a 1.5-GW floating wind development being built in three phases in an area about 37 miles from the Port of Ulsan.
Korean shipbuilding company HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) was announced Nov. 10 as the engineering, procurement, and construction lead for Gray Whale 3. The project is being developed by BadaEnergy, a South Korea-based joint venture between Corio Generation, TotalEnergies SE, and SK ecoplant. Corio Generation is a portfolio company of Macquarie’s Green Investment Group.
Development of the first two phases of the Gray Whale project—Gray Whale 1 and Gray Whale 2—is underway, with construction expected to begin next year. Commercial operation is scheduled for 2027. Construction of Gray Whale 3 is expected to begin in 2025, with commercial operation of the 504-MW installation scheduled in 2028.
“We are honored to have been selected as the preferred turbine supplier and collaborate with BadaEnergy and HHI for the Gray Whale 3 floating offshore wind project,” said Srdan Cenic, country manager of Vestas Korea, as well as the company’s vice president and head of Sales Offshore for Vestas Asia Pacific. “We will deliver the unparalleled competitiveness of Vestas’ technology combined with our experience in floating wind project execution to make sure an optimal deployment of offshore wind and strengthen customers’ business case for the project.”
Gray Whale 3 will feature V236-15.0 MW wind turbines from Vestas. The turbines will be installed on floating foundations.
“Korea’s supply chain participating in our floating offshore wind projects will have an excellent opportunity to enter the global floating offshore wind market,” said Woojin Choi, BadaEnergy’s co-representative director, in a statement. “Also, we believe our floating offshore wind projects in Ulsan will help Ulsan City achieve its net-zero targets and be designated as a Special District for Distributed Energy, attracting innovative companies that require a renewable energy source for electricity.”
BadaEnergy’s portfolio includes development of more than 2 GW of floating and fixed-bottom offshore wind projects in waters off South Korea.
—Darrell Proctor is a senior associate editor for POWER (@POWERmagazine).