AMSC Expands Offshore Wind Business with South Korea based Doosan Heavy Industries

AMSC, a global energy solutions provider serving wind and power grid industry leaders, today announced that it entered into an agreement for a 5.5 megawatt (MW) offshore wind turbine design with South Korea’s Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., Ltd. Under the agreement, AMSC is the exclusive supplier of electrical control systems (ECS) for Doosan’s 5.5 MW offshore wind turbine, South Korea’s most powerful domestically manufactured offshore wind turbine.

This agreement expands Doosan’s offshore wind turbine product line of 3 MW turbines to include 5.5 MW turbines. The 5.5 MW had been under joint development by Hyundai Electric & Energy Systems (Hyundai) and AMSC. Doosan acquired the prototype turbine, design, and rights to manufacture and sell the 5.5 MW wind turbines. The 5.5 MW system has been operating for nearly three years in South Korea’s Jeju Island and earned a reputation for its resiliency and safety. In 2016 during typhoon Chaba, the turbine withstood the fourth most powerful typhoon on record to hit South Korea with winds reaching 124 mph. 

“This agreement helps us grow our market presence in both the South Korean and the growing global offshore wind market, allying AMSC with a premium global brand,” said Daniel P. McGahn, President and CEO, AMSC.

Doosan is the engineering, procurement contractor and wind turbine supplier of the first phase of South Korea’s Southwestern Offshore wind project, a 2.5 gigawatt project being developed by a state-owned company, Korean Offshore Wind Power. Doosan will supply its turbines to the project’s first phase, a phase of 60 MW expected to come online by 2019. According to GlobalData the South Korean offshore wind market capacity is forecasted to grow to over 6 GW by 2030.

The 5.5 MW full conversion wind turbine design and prototype is the product of a joint development between South Korea-based Hyundai and AMSC. AMSC’s wind turbine electrical control systems include the company's proprietary PowerModule™ power converters, pitch and yaw converters, SCADA systems and other power electronics. They are designed to enable reliable, high-performance wind turbine operation by controlling power flows, regulating voltage, monitoring system performance and controlling the pitch of wind turbine blades to maximize efficiency.