Ørsted, the world’s most sustainable energy company, and POSCO Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Korea, today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to expand their relationship. POSCO and its affiliates will apply the group’s joint capabilities to support the development of Ørsted’s 1.6 GW offshore wind projects off the coast of Incheon City. Moreover, Ørsted and POSCO will conduct feasibility studies on potential collaboration on renewable hydrogen.
Korea has set an ambitious target of installing 12 GW offshore wind capacity by 2030. In September 2020, Korean President Moon Jae-in further announced the Green New Deal which targets net zero emissions by 2050. With this MoU, Ørsted takes another significant step, in addition to the company’s flagship Incheon projects, in pioneering renewable energy development in Korea and supporting Korea in the country’s transition to clean energy.
Ørsted has a well-established relationship with POSCO, whose steel business has been one of the strategic global suppliers and a trusted partner supplying over 100,000 tons of steel for Ørsted’s Hornsea 1 and three other offshore wind farms. In December 2020, POSCO Group joined the Korean government’s decarbonisation declaration, announcing its ambition to become a leading renewable hydrogen company and reaching carbon neutrality by 2050.
Jung-son Chon, POSCO Group Senior Executive Vice President, said, “POSCO has placed its hydrogen business as one of our growth engines for the group and is working to discover renewable hydrogen business opportunities. We hope to see our renewable hydrogen business pick up speed through this business collaboration with Ørsted. Combining the operational know-hows of Ørsted, a global company in the field of offshore wind and renewable hydrogen, with the business capabilities of POSCO Group, which includes construction and energy, both companies will be able to create synergies for a win-win collaboration.”
Mads Nipper, Group President and CEO of Ørsted, says: “With a vision of creating a world that runs entirely on green energy, Ørsted transformed from a fossil-fuel intensive utility to the world’s most sustainable energy company. We are determined to be a global catalyst for systemic change and to help countries and companies undertake their green transformation through scaling existing green energy solutions such as wind and solar and developing and scaling new green solutions such as hydrogen. It is wonderful that we could announce the MoU with POSCO during the P4G summit in Korea, which gathers global thought leaders and decision-makers to work towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals and creating a more sustainable world.”
Matthias Bausenwein, President of Ørsted Asia-Pacific, says: “This MoU is a major step for Ørsted to deepen our collaboration with POSCO, which shares our mindset of taking responsibility for reducing CO2 emissions. We look forward to bringing in our experience and insights to support Korea in achieving its energy transition and decarbonisation goals. With the Danish state as our majority owner, Ørsted is committed to working with local partners and suppliers across the value chain to build a vibrant Korean offshore wind industry through our 1.6 GW Incheon projects and potential more buildouts in other regions of the country. In addition to greening the electricity mix, offshore wind can become the feedstock for renewable hydrogen which can help decarbonising sectors that cannot be directly electrified such as transport and heavy industry.”
Ørsted recently started construction of its first renewable hydrogen demonstration project H2RES in Denmark and is involved in nine renewable hydrogen projects in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
About POSCO Group
POSCO is South Korea’s largest, and the world’s fourth largest, steel producer and has a presence in non-steel sectors of trading, infrastructure, EV materials, chemicals and energy. POSCO has recently announced to be carbon neutral by 2050, and plans to get actively involved in the hydrogen supply chain from production to application as well as gradually transforming its production into hydrogen-based steelmaking
About Ørsted in Korea
Ørsted opened an office in Seoul in 2018 and established its legal entity of Ørsted Korea in 2019. In November 2020, Ørsted announced the intention to develop offshore wind projects with a potential capacity of up to 1.6 GW, which will be located more than 70 kilometres off the coast of the Incheon City. The projects will provide clean energy to power up to 1.4 million Korean households and a reduction of almost 4 million metric tons of CO2 per year. Subject to permits, off-take agreement, and final investment decision, the projects could be commissioned 2026 or 2027.
The Ørsted vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy. Ørsted develops, constructs, and operates offshore and onshore wind farms, solar farms, energy storage facilities, and bioenergy plants, and provides energy products to its customers. Ørsted ranks as the world’s most sustainable energy company in Corporate Knights’ 2021 index of the Global 100 most sustainable corporations in the world and is recognised on the CDP Climate Change A List as a global leader on climate action. Headquartered in Denmark, Ørsted employs 6,311 people. Ørsted’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen (Orsted). In 2020, the group’s revenue was DKK 52.6 billion (EUR 7.1 billion). Visit orsted.com/ or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.
