Norway's state-owned Equinor has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Korea East-West Power (EWP) to cooperate on offshore wind projects with total capacity of 3 gigawatts (GW) in South Korea.

Oil major Statoil changed its name to Equinor in 2018, and is now investing heavily in energy transition. The company says its partnership with EWP, one of South Korea’s state-owned power generation companies, provides a strong basis for taking a leading role in developing a pipeline of offshore wind projects in the country.

The Korean government has set out on an ambitious target to grow renewables by 60GW by 2034, of which 12GW is targeted for offshore wind by 2030.

“South Korea aims to become one of the leading global markets for offshore wind in the next decade,“ says Pal Eitrheim, executive vice president for renewables at Equinor. "Together with EWP, we are ready to contribute to the country’s plans, in the short and the long term. We want to develop the first commercial floating offshore wind farm in South Korea. We have worked with the Korean supply chain for many years and know its qualities and capabilities. We see a big potential to leverage our experience in building a new industry together with Korea’s world-class supply chain.”

The MoU with EWP confirms Equinor’s strategy of accelerating profitable growth in renewables by creating value from early access at scale in attractive markets, in collaboration with partners.

Given South Korea's coastal water depths, floating solutions are required to realize the government’s renewables ambitions, according to Equinor. It says it will bring its decades of floating wind experience and offshore technology, along with its operations and maintenance expertise, to the partnership. Equinor has been in South Korea since 2014.

The Norwegian group is the operator of the world’s first floating wind farm, Hywind Scotland (30MW), and is currently constructing the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm under development, the Hywind Tampen (88 MW), both in the North Sea.

While both wind farms use the Hywind technology, Equinor will use the Wind Semi for its projects in South Korea, as this technology has been developed specifically for Korean waters and conditions. 

Equinor also has a long experience with Korean shipyards, having worked with local suppliers to support the construction of vast platforms and vessels.