Major conglomerates including SK, Hanwha, GS and Hyosung are expanding their investments in offshore wind power. Rather than limiting themselves to power plant development, they are broadening their business scope to include core equipment such as installation vessels, turbines and substructures, moving to secure market position ahead of competitors.
According to industry sources on October 18, SK is investing in power plant development and operation, Hanwha in power generation business and marine construction, GS in substructure production, and Hyosung in domestic production of large-scale turbines. Related investments are spreading ahead of the government's expansion of bidding.
The government aims to supply a cumulative 25 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2035 and is pursuing bidding for a total of 55 gigawatts between 2026 and 2035. The policy is to announce volumes of 4 gigawatts or more annually to increase predictability needed for private long-term investment.
SK's expanding offshore wind portfolio
SK Innovation E&S, part of the SK Group, completed the 96-megawatt Jeonnam P1 - SK E&S in the Sinan waters of South Jeolla Province in 2025 and began commercial operation. It is also developing phases 2 and 3, each 399 megawatts, in partnership with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) of Denmark.
SK Eternix also participated with a 10 percent stake in the 390-megawatt Sinan Ui offshore wind project, which began construction in July. Commercial operation is targeted for 2029. It is also pursuing an offshore wind project at Gulup-do in Incheon to expand its power generation business base.
Hanwha Ocean's integrated approach
Hanwha Ocean is leading development and construction of the Sinan Ui offshore wind project. It holds a 26 percent stake in the project, which has total project costs of 3.4 trillion won, and is jointly performing engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) with Hyundai E&C. Hanwha Ocean's EPC contract value is 1.9716 trillion won.
Hanwha Ocean is also constructing a wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) for use at the Sinan Ui complex, investing approximately 800 billion won. It began steel cutting in July and is strengthening its project capabilities spanning from development to construction.
GS and Hyosung expanding manufacturing capacity
GS Entech, part of the GS Group, completed factory expansion costing approximately 300 billion won and increased its annual production capacity for monopiles, the substructure component, from 40,000 tons to 150,000 tons. In September it signed a contract to supply 37 monopiles to the 504-megawatt Taean offshore wind project. Delivery is scheduled by August 2028.
Hyosung Heavy Industries, part of the Hyosung Group, is again pursuing establishment of a joint venture with Shanghai Electric for offshore wind turbines. It is in discussions targeting contract signing within the year and is also exploring ways to supply 14-megawatt turbines for bidding projects in the second half. However, joint venture establishment and production facility acquisition remain unconfirmed.
Other major players entering the market
Doosan Enerbility secured an EPC contract worth 575 billion won at the Yeonggwang Yawol offshore wind project and will supply 13 units of its self-developed 8-megawatt turbines. LS Cable is investing approximately 1 trillion won to build a submarine cable factory in Virginia, United States and has begun construction of the tower for the vertical continuous extrusion system, a critical piece of equipment.
LS Marine Solution won a submarine cable construction contract worth 156.9 billion won at the Sinan Ui offshore wind project in September. The scope of investment is expanding to transmission infrastructure that carries electricity generated at power plants.
An industry official said: "Offshore wind is a market where diverse industries are connected from power plant development to turbines, substructures and transmission infrastructure. If government bidding leads to actual orders, it will have a positive impact on related companies' order expansion and investment returns."
Original Korean article: Maeil Ilbo
English brief by Korea Wind Intelligence, koreawindintel.com
KWI developer profile — Hanwha Ocean
4 projects in Korea totalling 1,730 MW. Compiled from the KWI database. Not part of the source article.
Sinan Ui Offshore Wind
|  |
ChilHae 1 Offshore Wind
| |
ChilHae 2 Offshore Wind
| |
Boryeong Nokdo Offshore Wind
| |
Project data: KWI database — Electricity Business Licence records, EIA filings (ME2021C012, ME2026C003, ME2026C014), Electricity Regulatory Commission minutes, and pre-EBL permit filings.
