Vestas plans offshore wind nacelle factory in South Korea
Vestas plans offshore wind nacelle factory in South Korea | Windpower Monthly
Danish manufacturer Vestas has signed a deal with shipping giant Maersk to build a nacelle factory for offshore wind turbines in Jeonnam province, south-western South Korea.
Vestas added that the deal will see both companies advance plans for a nacelle plant in Mokpo City while exploring options to hire “local talent” and collaborate with local companies in the region.
The Danish turbine maker signed a strategic partnership agreement with Maersk on containerised transport of its products in 2021.
Vestas is expanding its presence in South Korea, which aims to install 14.3GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.
It most recently secured an order for 18 of its V136-4.2 MW turbines for a 77MW project in Gyeongsang-do, South Korea.
Rival turbine makers GE Vernova, Siemens Gamesa and Mingyang have also set their sights on South Korea's nascent offshore wind market.
Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.