Equinor, KNOC examine floating offshore wind potential

Equinor has signed a memorandum of understanding with Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) to jointly evaluate floating offshore wind in South Korea.

“We plan to focus actively on progress and de-risking studies including feasibility studies,” said Jae-Heon Shim, senior vice president at KNOC.

According to Equinor, South Korea is pursuing a transition in its energy mix away from nuclear and coal, with the proportion of renewable energy in power generation set to increase to 20% by 2030.

This would mean targeting 49 GW of new renewable generation capacity by that point.

KNOC, which is 100% state-owned, is charged with maintaining South Korea’s energy security, and is looking to develop a 200-MW floating offshore wind project at its Donghae gas platform in East Sea, 58 kilometres (36 miles) offshore Ulsan City on the country’s south-east coast.

Equinor operates Hywind Scotland, claimed to be the world’s first full-scale commercial floating offshore wind farm.

Elsewhere in UK waters the company operates two large offshore wind farms based on bottom fixed technology (Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon), and it is also working to develop further large-scale wind projects offshore the UK, Germany, Poland and the US, and at some point Asia.

Source: Offshore Magazine