HJ Shipbuilding & Construction to establish offshore wind cluster at Gunsan Shipyard

[Financial News] HJ Shipbuilding & Construction is joining forces with J Ocean Heavy Industries, Myeongun Industrial Development and Unison to establish an offshore wind cluster at Gunsan Shipyard. The plan is to create a production hub for offshore wind equipment on the shipyard’s idle land and secure the related supply chain.
HJ Shipbuilding & Construction said on the 28th that it had signed an MOU with the companies on the 27th at its headquarters in Galwol-dong, Seoul, to establish an offshore wind cluster in Gunsan. The signing ceremony was attended by HJ Shipbuilding & Construction CEO Yoo Sang-cheol, J Ocean Heavy Industries CEO Ha Hwa-jeong, Myeongun Industrial Development Chairman Kim Gang-hak and Unison CEO Kim Byeong-ju. Gunsan Mayor Kim Jae-jun and Chairman Cha Jeong-hun, who led the acquisition of Gunsan Shipyard, were also present.
The agreement was drawn up to combine HJ Shipbuilding & Construction’s production technology in shipbuilding and marine industries and the production infrastructure at J Ocean Heavy Industries’ Gunsan Shipyard with the wind power business capabilities of Myeongun Industrial Development and Unison. The four companies plan to build a supply chain for offshore wind equipment and identify opportunities for joint projects.
J Ocean Heavy Industries will use the infrastructure at Gunsan Shipyard to provide a production base for offshore wind structures and related equipment. HJ Shipbuilding & Construction will take part in building production hubs for offshore structures, including offshore wind towers and offshore substations (OSS), drawing on its production and process management expertise. Myeongun Industrial Development and Unison will share their wind power project development capabilities and technical and production know-how, and work together to build an equipment supply chain. The cluster is set to occupy 100,000 pyeong of idle land at Gunsan Shipyard, which covers 540,000 pyeong in total, excluding land needed for shipbuilding.
In particular, J Ocean Heavy Industries is preparing to fully restart operations so it can resume shipbuilding, the main business of Gunsan Shipyard. Over the past four months, it has signed letters of intent (LOIs) covering the construction of a total of 10 vessels, including crude oil and petrochemical product carriers and crude oil carriers. It plans to pursue shipbuilding orders on that basis while developing its offshore wind equipment business into a new growth engine.
The participating companies expect that using shipyard infrastructure needed to fabricate, transport and assemble large structures will help improve the competitiveness of offshore wind projects. They also expect that, if the related production and supply chains take shape, business participation by partner companies in North Jeolla Province and the Gunsan area, as well as new hiring, will expand.
An HJ Shipbuilding & Construction official said, “We will expand HJ Shipbuilding & Construction’s manufacturing capabilities in shipbuilding and marine industries, together with the large-scale production infrastructure J Ocean Heavy Industries possesses, into diverse marine industry sectors such as offshore wind, creating new growth opportunities,” adding, “We will work closely with the parties to the agreement to flesh out the business and deliver results, contributing to regional development and economic revitalization.”
[email protected] Jung Won-il Reporter