Power generation equipment, manufacturing and contracting firm Doosan Heavy Industries will supply key installation support components for offshore wind projects to a fellow South Korean company.
Doosan Heavy signed a supplier agreement for racks and chords of wind turbine installation vessels with Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME). Racks and chords are key components of the jack-up legs used by wind turbine installation vessels.
Doosan Heavy will supply a total of 156 racks and chords into 2023, according to the release. The 25-ton rack and chord combinations are meant to withstand approximately 37,250 tons, including the weight of the vessel and the wind turbine.
The material must also withstand various salinity levels in seawater, as well as temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius.
“By leveraging Doosan Heavy’s competency and experience in developing and manufacturing special steels for power plants and marine vessels, we succeeded in locally manufacturing the racks & chords, which had formerly been imported from overseas,” said Kiyong Na, CEO of Doosan Heavy’s Nuclear Business Group. “While establishing a stable supply of special steels for the shipbuilding industry, we plan to continuously expand our business in this area to meet the growing demand in this field.”
The offshore wind market globally is valued at more than $25 billion and growing to double that by 2025, especially with new projects planned in the U.S. According to VesselsValue, the UK-based market intelligence provider for the maritime & shipbuilding sector, it is forecast that approximately 100 or more wind turbine installation vessels will be needed over the next 10 years.
Doosan Heavy, which first ventured into the wind power business in 2005, is currently the holder of the largest track record for offshore wind turbines in Korea. The company recently build its second wind turbine shop to adequately prepare for the rising demand of offshore wind farms. Doosan currently owns 3-MW and 5.5-MW wind turbine models and is preparing to commercially launch a 8.8-MW model in 2022.
