HD Hyundai Heavy Industries secures offshore substation deal in Taean

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries confirmed Oct. 6, 2026 that it won a turnkey contract to engineer, build and install an offshore substation for South Korea's 500-megawatt Taean offshore wind farm.

The maritime electrical platform will collect power generated by 36 turbines situated roughly 30 kilometers off Gaedo-ri in Taean County. It will step up voltage before sending power to the regional grid, the company said.

The project links directly into transmission capacity left available after state utility Korea Western Power shut down its aging 500-megawatt Taean coal-fired generation unit 1.

The turnkey award covers engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries will deploy its proprietary 500-megawatt substation design.

International classification society DNV verified the proprietary platform's basic engineering in 2025. DNV completed its detailed design verification in August 2026, certifying the structure under international offshore engineering standards.

The project developer is Taean Wind Power, a special-purpose joint venture. Singapore-based developer Vena Energy holds a 37.5% equity stake, Denmark's Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners holds 37.5% and Korea Western Power owns the remaining 25%.

The project secured fixed-price power contracts for its entire 500-megawatt capacity through national auctions held by the Korea Energy Agency in late 2024.

Taean Wind Power subsequently executed long-term renewable energy certificate agreements. Korea Western Power contracted to buy 300 megawatts of the output, while private generator Gangneung Eco Power took the remaining 200 megawatts.

The turnkey execution agreement represents the conclusion of phased procurement. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries signed a front-end engineering design contract in March 2026 and a preferred supplier agreement in July.

Won Kwang-sik, head of the offshore energy division at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, executed the binding agreement with Clément Helbig de Balzac, chief executive of Taean Wind Power, in Seoul on Oct. 1.

The order allows South Korea's largest shipbuilder to optimize work distribution across its Ulsan complex. Commercial drydocks at the yard remain booked through 2028 with high-margin liquefied natural gas carriers and container ships.

Offshore wind substations rely on specialized fabrication quays and heavy gantry cranes rather than drydock basins. That separation allows the yard to take infrastructure work without displacing scheduled commercial vessel deliveries.

The offshore energy division previously relied on topside production modules for deepwater oil and natural gas developments. Those projects frequently carried volatile execution schedules and costly design revisions.

Standardized offshore substations require repetitive structural steel fabrication and high-voltage electrical outfitting. That production profile provides steady yard volume while reducing exposure to complex subsea drilling architectures.

Fabricating substations also maintains employment levels for heavy welding and marine electrical technicians. Those specialized fabrication teams otherwise face work gaps between sporadic international oil and gas tender awards.

The contract comes as South Korea works to raise offshore wind capacity from roughly 200 megawatts to 14.3 gigawatts by 2030. The domestic target requires dozens of offshore substation units and foundation jackets over the next five years.

Developer Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners is also advancing separate offshore wind clusters across South Korea and the wider Asia-Pacific market. That pipeline provides potential follow-on fabrication opportunities for certified regional shipyards.

Competitors Hanwha Ocean and Samsung Heavy Industries have likewise examined renewable offshore structures to balance yard utilization against merchant shipbuilding cycles.

The notice does not state the monetary value of the turnkey contract, and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries had not filed a single-contract disclosure with the Financial Supervisory Service as of Oct. 7, 2026.

Offshore installation and onshore civil work at the Taean wind site are scheduled to begin in late 2026. Taean Wind Power expects commercial electricity generation to start in late 2029, with final project completion scheduled for 2030.