Hanwha Ocean breaks ground on Sinan offshore wind project

Hanwha Ocean held a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for the Sinan Ui offshore wind power project in Sinan-gun, South Jeolla Province.

The project is a flagship national energy-transition initiative aligned with the government's renewable energy expansion policy and offshore wind industry development strategy. It has been selected as the first investment project under both the National Growth Fund and the Future Energy Fund, and has completed project financing (PF) backed entirely by domestic capital, with major equipment — excluding turbines — sourced through domestic supply chains.

The ceremony was attended by Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy Minister Kim Sung-hwan, Hanwha Ocean President Jeong In-seop, South Jeolla-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City Mayor Min Hyeong-bae, Sinan-gun County Chief Kim Tae-seong and Jindo-gun County Chief Lee Jae-gak, along with officials from the Financial Services Commission, financial institutions and shareholder companies.

The Sinan Ui offshore wind power project will be a 390 MW wind complex built in waters near Uidori, Dochomyeon, Sinan-gun, South Jeolla Province. Construction is targeting completion in 2029.

The project is being carried out with active support from the Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy, with Korea Midland Power and Hyundai E&C among the participants. Korea Midland Power will operate the wind complex for 25 years after completion, handling power supply. Hyundai E&C will jointly perform EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) work with Hanwha Ocean.

Hanwha Ocean is leading the project as both developer and EPC prime contractor, overseeing the full scope of project development including site identification, permitting and investment attraction. The company plans to deploy a next-generation wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) for the project. Investment in the WTIV alone stands at 800 billion won ($537 million).

"The Sinan Ui offshore wind power project is an important undertaking that will strengthen the competitiveness of South Korea's offshore wind industry on the foundation of domestic technology and supply chains," a Hanwha Ocean official said. "We will contribute to building a domestic offshore wind industry ecosystem and advancing the energy transition, while continuing to create new growth opportunities in the global offshore wind market."