The BadaEnergy portfolio comprises more than 2 GW of floating and fixed-bottom offshore wind farms off the coast of Ulsan and South Jeolla province. This includes the 1.5 GW Gray Whale project, expected to become one of the world’s largest floating offshore wind developments.

Leveraging its offshore EPC expertise, South Korean company SK ecoplant will join the partners in taking the projects from early planning through licensing and construction to operation. The partnership with SK ecoplant will provide an opportunity to develop the BadaEnergy projects to the highest standards, with a high level of local content. In this way, the projects will boost local industry, create jobs in South Korea, and contribute to the supply of green electricity at a competitive price.

Woojin Choi, Representative Director of Corio Generation Korea, said: “SK ecoplant’s broad experience and excellent capabilities in offshore development will serve as a great driving force for constructing offshore wind in South Korea, including one of the world’s largest floating offshore wind developments. In order to support the country’s ambition to lead the way in offshore wind, we will have a dedicated focus on the localisation of capital, finance, and technology.”

Jungwon Shin, Country Chair Korea of TotalEnergies, said: “We are delighted to welcome SK ecoplant, a well-known and leading South Korean company, to the BadaEnergy offshore wind power portfolio as a joint developer. Its participation will help to accelerate the development of our projects and to build a strong relationship with the local economy, creating jobs, and building an ecosystem for the South Korean offshore wind power industry and its supply chain. We are very keen to expand our long-term co-operation with South Korea to contribute to the diversification of its energy mix.”

Kyung-il Park, CEO of SK ecoplant, commented: “By jointly developing the offshore wind business with global energy companies, we have laid the foundation to become a major player in the market. We have completed the overall value chain of the energy business by achieving rapid growth through intensive investments in the renewable energy sector such as offshore wind, solar, and fuel cells.”

To date, four of the five wind farm projects in the BadaEnergy portfolio have been granted electric business licenses from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s Electricity Regulatory Commission. With exclusive development rights on the vast majority of the portfolio now secured, the partners are progressing the projects up to first commercial operation date by 2027.