Support for first commercialization of domestic 8MW offshore wind turbine
The National Growth Fund has decided to provide approximately 1 trillion won in support to five projects including the Yawol offshore wind power project, which uses domestically produced turbines. As a result, the fund has approved a total of 18.9 trillion won in financing by the end of September, and is expected to achieve its goal of approving and establishing 30 trillion won in funding by year-end ahead of schedule.
The Financial Services Commission announced on September 17 that it approved financing for five projects including the Yawol offshore wind power project and DN Solutions' advanced manufacturing artificial intelligence transformation business at a fund management deliberation meeting for the National Growth Fund.
The Yawol offshore wind project involves constructing a 104MW offshore wind farm near Nagwol-myeon, Yeonggwang County, South Jeolla Province. Of the total project cost of 757 billion won, the Advanced Strategic Industry Fund within the National Growth Fund will provide 130 billion won through project financing loans. The remaining 627 billion won will be covered by private financial institutions and power generation companies.
The Yawol offshore wind project will deploy 13 units of 8MW-class domestic offshore wind turbines developed by Doosan Enerbility. This marks the first case in which a large offshore wind turbine developed domestically is applied to an actual commercial power generation facility, moving beyond the research and development and demonstration stages.
The turbine was developed through the Korea Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning Institute's "8MW-class large-capacity offshore wind power generation system development" project starting in 2018 and was installed at the Yeonggwang demonstration site in 2022. The Financial Services Commission views this project as helping to build a track record for future overseas market entry once the domestic turbine achieves actual commercial operation results.
The project was identified and connected to National Growth Fund support through financial structure establishment led by Hana Bank and IBK Industrial Bank. The structure lowers overall financing costs and enhances project viability through participation of the Advanced Strategic Industry Fund.
The National Growth Fund is also providing 150 billion won in low-interest loans to DN Solutions, a precision machine tool manufacturer, for its advanced manufacturing artificial intelligence transformation project. DN Solutions plans to establish a research and development center in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province and develop smart machines that use artificial intelligence technology to analyze and control vibration, temperature, and tool condition of machine tools in real time.
Hwasin, an automotive parts company based in North Gyeongsangbuk Province, will receive 25 billion won to expand its electric vehicle battery pack case production line. PKC, based in North Jeolla Province, will receive 12 billion won in loans for expanding high-purity chlorine gas production equipment for semiconductor etching processes, and Konec, based in South Chungcheong Province, will receive 32 billion won for establishing a mass production line for lightweight structural frames for humanoids.
Cumulative approvals reach 18.9 trillion won through September
With this approval, the National Growth Fund's cumulative approvals and establishment for January through September this year reached 18.9 trillion won. This comprises 2.83 trillion won in direct investment, 1.59 trillion won in indirect investment, 7.62 trillion won in infrastructure investment and financing, and 6.86 trillion won in low-interest loans.
The proportion of support to regional areas reached 44.7 percent of approved amounts, exceeding the policy target of 40 percent. The Financial Services Commission expects to achieve the year-end goal of approving and establishing 30 trillion won ahead of schedule, taking into account indirect investment funds scheduled to be established in the fourth quarter.
Risk management and post-investment oversight strengthened
The Financial Services Commission also decided to establish a Risk Management Committee and a Post-Investment Management Committee as the National Growth Fund's investment scale expands. The Risk Management Committee will conduct advance checks on investment-related risks including financial, reputational, governance, legal, and community acceptance factors, while the Post-Investment Management Committee will review fund execution and recovery after investment. Both committees will begin full operations in October.
Original Korean article: Asia Economy
English brief by Korea Wind Intelligence, koreawindintel.com
