KEPCO Taps K2 for South Korean Floater

KEPCO Engineering & Construction Company (KEPCO E&C) has appointed K2 Management to help it deliver the first floating offshore wind farm in Korea for the developer, Ulsan consortium.

The project, in the pre-feasibility phase supported by the Korean government, is expected to be approximately 200MW as a testbed, around 50 kilometres from the coast of Ulsan Metropolitan city in the East Sea.

K2 Management’s mandate includes developing a high-level strategy for operation and maintenance (O&M) of the floating project, including CAPEX and OPEX estimation, consideration of O&M procedure, commercialization and expansion concepts, and the design and technical requirements for wind turbine generator (WTG) technology and floating foundation types.

“In our quest to deliver the stable supply of electric power to Korea, our portfolio of clean energy projects spans wind and solar PV across Asia and the Middle East,” a representative of KEPCO E&C said.

”We are excited to be embracing floating wind power in the East Sea and appointing K2 Management to support us in this role to leverage their existing offshore wind expertise from across the globe. We look forward to our collaboration and the ultimate delivery of a successful floating project.”

KEPCO E&C, a subsidiary of KEPCO (Korea Electric Power Corporation), also appointed K2 Management in 2017 to support another ongoing offshore project, delivering owner’s engineering services including energy yield analysis, WTG procurement support, and technical support.

Jung Kwang-Woon, Director, South Korea at K2 Management, said: “We are delighted to be working with KEPCO E&C again on another exciting project, and we are looking forward to bringing floating offshore wind to the shores of South Korea. There are many challenges in commercializing innovative technology like floating foundations, but K2 Management will bring its knowledge and experience from early-stage floating projects and extensive offshore projects to deliver better energy projects for both our client and for Korea as a whole.”

South Korea has a target of having 20% of electricity produced by renewable energy by 2030. This corresponds to an expansion of renewables of 48.7GW, including 16.5GW in wind energy.