South Korea's SeAH Steel intensively invests in UK offshore wind power, secured 100 pc stake of subsidiary
Jul 09, 2021
Seoul [South Korea], July 9 (ANI/Global Economic): SeAH Steel Holdings is speeding up to become a global leader through intensive investment in the offshore wind power business.
SeAH Steel Holdings announced on July 6 that it decided to acquire 6,399,800 shares of its subsidiary SeAH Wind in the UK for 50.1 billion won.
It accounts for 3.77 per cent of SeAH Steel's total equity, and the ownership of SeAH Wind's share will be 100 percent after acquisition.
SeAH Steel explained: "It is the investment in overseas affiliates to promote the manufacturing of basic foundations for offshore wind power generation."
As SeAH Steel Holdings entered the U.K. business, the offshore wind power business will gain more momentum. Previously, the company signed an 'MOU to construct world-class monopile production facility with the U.K government at the U.K Embassy in Jung-gu, Seoul on August 19 last year.
They agreed to construct a factory in the U.K that can produce large-sized monopiles with an annual capacity of 160,000 tons. Under the agreement, SeAH Steel became the first Korean company which has participated in the U.K government-led offshore wind power project.
The offshore wind power generation needs basic foundations to fix tightly. The basic foundations include 'monopile', 'jacket' and 'tripod'. Monopiles are generally made into large structures by welding 3-4 thick plates and connecting to 60-100m height.
SeAH Steel Holdings' monopile manufacturing plant in the U.K is the largest in the world as a single-product factory. It is planning to start commercial production from the first quarter of 2023 and sell more than 100 monopiles annually. It is about half of the annual demands for monopiles in the U.K.
According to SeAH Steel Holdings, the offshore wind power business has entered in growth, mainly in Europe. It is expected that it will create a global market worth $1 trillion (about 1200 trillion won) in 2040, through high annual growth rate of 13$.
In particular, U.K is one of the strongest countries in the offshore wind power business, and accounted for more than half of the market share in 2019. For energy conversion policies and industry development, the U.K government is supporting offshore wind power industries.
In addition, the U.K government is actively attracting investments in the equipment and materials industry in order to increase the utilization rate of domestic products, focusing on strengthening the value chain of the U.K wind power generation. (ANI/Global Economic)