BadaEnergy selects Hyundai Heavy Industries as the preferred bidder 

for Ulsan Gray Whale Floating Offshore Wind Project

  

•        Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has been selected as the preferred bidder for the EPC of the Ulsan Gray Whale 3 floating offshore wind farm being promoted off the coast of Ulsan.

•        1.5 GW Gray Whale is expected to be one of the world’s largest floating offshore wind farms once the project’s third phase is completed.

•        BadaEnergy relocated its Ulsan office to a larger facility to ensure fast and efficient communication with local municipalities, stakeholders, and supply chains.

 

 

[November 7, 2023] BadaEnergy, a portfolio of offshore wind projects in South Korea jointly developed by Corio Generation, TotalEnergies and SK ecoplant, announced on Tuesday that it has selected HHI as the preferred bidder for the EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) of its Gray Whale 3 floating offshore wind farm.

 

In August last year, BadaEnergy selected the HHI and Doris Engineering consortium as Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) contractor for Gray Whale 3 to perform FEED (Front-End Engineering and Design) services for floater, mooring and inter-array cables.

HHI is now collaborating in a task force with the BadaEnergy team and Vestas (Selected as Preferred Wind Turbines Supplier for Gray Whale 3) with the aim to continue optimising design and industrialising the execution plan of the fabrication of the 33 hulls, the integration of the turbines and the installation to the site.

The Ulsan floating offshore wind projects (project name: Gray Whale 1,2,3) aim to construct 1.5-gigawatt in public waters about 60 kilometers east of Ulsan Port, targeting to start phased construction from 2025 and begin the first commercial operation in 2028. Once the project’s third phase is completed, the wind farm is expected to be one of the world’s largest floating offshore wind farms.

With the selection of the preferred bidder, BadaEnergy will be able to rapidly implement its strategy of localising all stages of offshore wind projects. As offshore structures are one of the key facilities in offshore wind development, HHI, which has extensive experience in the construction and fabrication of offshore plants such as FPSO (Floating Production Storage and Offloading) and platforms, is expected to sharpen its competitive edge and export its technologies to the overseas market by participating in Korea’s first and one of the world’s largest floating offshore wind projects.

BadaEnergy also relocated its office to a larger one in Songjeong-dong, Buk-gu, Ulsan, in order to facilitate faster and more efficient communication with local municipalities, local stakeholders and local supply chains. The ceremony to mark the opening of BadaEnergy’s new Ulsan office held on November 2 was attended by 50 distinguished guests from offshore wind industry in Ulsan, including the Ulsan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, HHI, Vestas, and local supply chains.

In addition, when Ulsan is designated as a specialised area for distributed energy, floating offshore wind projects, including the Gray Whale projects, can serve as future growth engines that will create jobs and promote revitalisation of the local economy.

BadaEnergy's co-Representative Director Woojin Choi stated that “We believe this is one of the most significant milestones in our great journey towards floating offshore wind. To achieve the global net-zero target by 2050, more than 2,000 GW of offshore wind projects need to be built globally (which represents a market of KRW 12,000 trillion), with the majority being floating offshore wind.  Korea’s supply chain participating in our floating offshore wind projects will have an excellent opportunity to enter the global floating offshore wind market. 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.”

“TotalEnergies and HHI have built a strong partnership by carrying out a variety of projects in the oil and gas sector since 2000, and based on this mutual trust, HHI has successfully performed FEED work, bolstering a win-win partnership,” Gray Whale 3’s Project Director Guillaume Le Maréchal said. “As it happened 25 years ago with Oil and Gas, we are convinced that the floating offshore wind project in Ulsan will serve as an example of a revival of the local economy and the best practice of Korea’s technological prowess being widely recognized overseas, by creating synergy with local companies centered on Ulsan to establish local supply chain of offshore wind.”

HHI’s Head of Sales Operations Seung-yong Park said, “We are very pleased to have been selected as the preferred EPC bidder in one of the world’s largest floating offshore wind projects. With our accumulated experience and technologies, HHI will make every effort to ensure the Gray Whale 3 project’s success and the establishment of future energy ecosystem.”

“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. 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,” said Srdan Cenic, Country Manager of Vestas Korea & Vice President, Head of Sales Offshore of Vestas Asia Pacific.

Furthermore, BadaEnergy and HHI will continue to strengthen cooperation with the local community, including the participation in the fund-raising event for the local industry development fund, which was held in early October to support the University of Ulsan’s bid to win the Glocal University 30 Project.

 

Photo) Officials are taking a commemorative photo at BadaEnergy's new Ulsan office opening ceremony on November 2. From the left: SK ecoplant’s Executive of Net Zero and Energy Jeong-hoon Kim, BadaEnergy’s co-Representative Director Woojin Choi, Gray Whale 3’s Project Director Guillaume Le Maréchal, HHI's Executive Vice President Seon-mook Lim and HHI's Senior Vice President Tae-jin Kim and HHI's PM Jinseong Son.