Equinor Pushes Ahead with 800 MW Floating Wind Project in Korea

Equinor Korea has signed a co-development Letter of Agreement for the Firefly floating wind project off South Korea with the Offshore Wind Countermeasures Committee, the Ulsan-based fishermen organization.

With this agreement, Equinor and the Ulsan Offshore Wind Countermeasures Committee formed a consultative body to promote the project at the earliest, and to make efforts to compensate for the losses to the fishing industry, Equinor Korea, the Korean subsidiary of the Norwegian state-owned energy company Equinor said.

In addition, the parties agreed to cooperate with each other in obtaining approval for the power generation business license for the Ulsan Firefly floating offshore wind project.

Firefly is an 800 MW floating wind project that Equinor is developing some 70 kilometres east of the Ulsan Port.

The area consists of two sites with a size of 75 square kilometres each.

In June 2020, two floating LiDARs (FLiDARs) were installed at the site to collect wind data for a period of over one year. Equinor began to measure wind conditions as part of a business feasibility study to develop the project.

The wind farm will feature wind turbines supported by semi-submersible foundations with three mooring lines installed in water depths of between 200 metres and 250 metres.

Equinor Korea is currently preparing to apply for the Electricity Business License  for the project.

The developer expects to receive all the necessary permits and sign the grid connection agreements for the wind farm by 2023.

The construction of the necessary components is expected to take place between 2023 and 2025 and the installation work is scheduled to be completed by 2026.

Equinor is the owner and operator of Hywind Scotland, the world’s first commercial floating offshore wind farm located in the northeast of United Kingdom and in operation since 2017.

The company is also in advanced stages of developing the 88 MW Hywind Tampen floating wind farm offshore Norway.