Samsung Heavy Industries is eyeing growth in the renewable energy sector, making its first foray into the clean energy business with a large-scale offshore wind floater.

The South Korean shipbuilder has disclosed that it has received approval in principle for its 9.5- megawatt (MW) large-scale offshore wind floater model, named Tri-Star Float, from classification society DNV.

SHI said it started developing the independent floater model last year as it sought to venture into the domestic and global offshore wind power generation market.

Wang K Lee, vice president of offshore business division at SHI, said: “The offshore floater will enable us to make forays into the renewable energy sector using our capacity to build large-scale offshore plants.

“We hope our development is aligned with the government’s Green New Deal Policy.”

SHI is specifically targeting the South Korean government-led Donghae-1 floating wind farm project, which will generate 6 gigawatts (GW) of power.

Equinor, Korea National Oil Corp and Korea East-West Power have formed a consortium to develop the Donghae-1 project off the coast near Ulsan.

Compact design

Samsung Heavy Industries is targeting the government-led Donghae-1 wind farm floating project. Photo: Samsung Heavy Industries

SHI's design features a three-legged pontoon with steel-frame structure supporting a wind turbine.

Most floating wind turbine structures are supported by four-legged pontoons, but SHI said reducing this to three allowed for a more compact design that would dramatically shorten the construction period from design and transportation to installation.

Testing of a floating water tank model at the Korea Research Institute of Ships & Ocean Engineering (KRISO) was completed in March and attended by classification societies, government agencies and partners of the Donghae-1 project.