HD Hyundai Heavy Industries wins contract for 500-MW offshore substation in Taean
Won Kwang-shik, right, head of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' offshore & energy division, and Taean Wind Power CEO Clement Helbig de Balzac pose after signing a contract for HD Hyundai Heavy to build an offshore substation in Taean, South Chungcheong Province, Thursday. Courtesy of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has signed a contract to build an offshore substation for a wind farm in waters off Taean, South Chungcheong Province, as it expands its presence in the offshore wind market.
The company announced on Friday that it recently signed a contract with Taean Wind Power to carry out the engineering, procurement, fabrication, installation and commissioning of an offshore substation for the wind farm.
Taean Wind Power is a joint venture between Singapore-based renewable energy company Vena Energy, Danish investment and development firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and state-run Korea Western Power.
An offshore substation is a key facility that transmits electricity generated by turbines at an offshore wind farm to shore.
The offshore substation to be built in Taean will step up the voltage of electricity generated by a 500-megawatt wind farm before transmitting the power to shore.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries secured the project through a series of agreements, signing a front-end engineering design contract in March, followed by a preferred supplier agreement in July. The two companies finalized the main contract after further negotiations, paving the way for the project to move forward.
“Building on our accumulated offshore plant expertise, we will carry out the offshore substation project reliably,” a company official said. "We will also continue to seek new business opportunities in the renewable energy sector and strengthen our competitiveness in the market."
The company obtained basic design approval from Norwegian classification society DNV in 2025 for its self-developed 500-megawatt offshore substation model.
It also completed detailed design verification in August, marking the first time an offshore substation project in Korea had received international certification for design suitability and safety under global regulations and standards.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries said it has demonstrated its technological capabilities through a range of offshore plant and offshore wind projects, expanding its offshore wind business by applying expertise developed through its offshore plant operations.
The company added that it plans to build on the Taean project to explore opportunities for further cooperation on future domestic offshore wind projects with Vena Energy, CIP and Korea Western Power.