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South Korea

Equinor opened its country office in South Korea in 2014, and has been supporting the teams supervising the construction of topsides for the Mariner and Aasta Hansteen platforms, the Aasta Hansteen hull, two Category-J rigs, two platforms for Johan Sverdrup, and now offshore wind.

Our activites in South Korea

For more information about Equinor’s activities in South Korea in Korean or English, please visit the dedicated website:

View of Ulsan city

Offshore wind in South Korea

The share of renewable energy in South Korea’s power production is predicted to increase to 20% by 2030; aiming to add 49GW to its renewable production capacity by 2030, of which solar power accounts for 36.5 GW and wind power 17.7 GW.

Donghae 1 wind farm project

Together with Korean National Oil Company and East West Power, we have the ambition to develop a 200 MW floating offshore wind farm approximately 60 km off the coast of Ulsan in South Korea. The project obtained the electric business licence (EBL) from the Korean authorities for the Donghae 1 wind farm in December 2021.

Firefly Wind Farm project

Equinor has conducted the wind measurements needed to further investigate the possibility of developing and constructing a floating offshore wind project with the potential of 800MW off the coast of Ulsan in South Korea. The company obtained the electric business licence (EBL) from the Korean authorities for the Firefly project in December 2021.

Collaboration is a key value in how Equinor operates in local communities in which we are present. To date, we have signed a general collaboration Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with all developers and Ulsan city and a 3rd party MoU with the Offshore wind project countermeasures committee and Ulsan City. We have entered these MoUs to foster the floating offshore wind industry infrastructure in response to the South Korean government's renewable energy policy. They are a testament to our belief in developing floating offshore wind in this area.

Map of South Korea

Stepping up Korean offshore wind plans, 3 GW collaboration with EWP

Equinor has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Korean East-West Power (EWP) to cooperate on 3 GW of offshore wind projects in South Korea.

Together the partners will contribute significantly to the country’s ongoing energy transition and development of an offshore wind industry in Korea.

Picture of the Valemon Topside at the Samsung shipyard in South Korea

Building our rigs and platforms

Our activities in South Korea focus on the construction of the vast platforms and vessels used to find, produce and transport oil and gas. Several of these installations have been built at South Korean shipyards:

  • Mariner topsides constructed at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) on the island of Geoje.
  • Two category J drilling rigs for the Oseberg and Gullfaks fields constructed at Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), also on Geoje.
  • SHI delivered the Valemon topside and Heidrun FSU, and is currently fabricating two out of four topsides at the Johan Sverdrup field.
  • The Aasta Hansteen topside and hull were constructed at Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) near the city of Ulsan.

Equinor has personnel in South Korea to supervise all these projects. South Korea has previously delivered the following constructions: Gina Krog topside and Mariner FSU (in June 2016), the Valemon topside (delivered in June 2014), the Heidrun storage vessel (delivered in March 2015) and hulls for the Gjøa, Kristin and Åsgard B platforms. DSME has also built four category D rigs for the owner Songa. They have been designed by and will be in operation for Equinor.

How to contact us

Equinor is keen to receive feedback from local stakeholders and those working in our supply chain.

Email: UlsanFOW@equinor.com

Office address:

Equinor SK - Busan
22F, 79 Centum Jungang-ro, Haeundae-gu, Busan,
South Korea [48058]
Tel: +82 (0)10 8323 5480

Equinor SK - Ulsan
#536-539, 406-21 Jongga-ro, Jung-gu, Ulsan,
South Korea [44429]
Tel : +82 (0)52 242 1907

Equinor SK - Seoul
22F, Mirae Asset Center1 – East wing, Eulji-ro 5-gil 26, Jung-gu, Seoul,
Republic of Korea [04539]

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