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Doosan Heavy to Supply Equipment for Wind Turbine Installation Vessels

2021. 09. 15

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- Rack & chord supplier contract signed with DSME, signaling success in local manufacturing of vessel equipment which had formerly been imported
- Owing to projected growth of global offshore wind power market, expect to secure orders for 100+ wind turbine installation vessels over next decade

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction announced on September 15th that it had signed a supplier agreement for racks & chords of wind turbine installation vessels with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME). With the signing of this agreement, Doosan will be supplying a total of 156 racks & chords in the years leading up to 2023.


As key components of the jack-up legs used by wind turbine installation vessels*, racks & chords are structures that require a high level of strength that is enough to withstand a maximum weight of approximately 37,250 tons, including the weight of the vessel and wind turbine. A rack & chord is 9 meters-long and weighs about 25 tons per unit. For the cogwheel-shaped rack component, 250 mm-thick special steels are used.

*Wind Turbine Installation Vessel: Vessel used to assemble and install offshore wind turbines out at sea. The vessel places the jack-up legs into the seabed and then jacks the hull of the vessel out of the water to create a stable working platform, after which a large crane is used to install the offshore wind turbine.


Doosan Heavy accomplished the feat of developing high-strength special material with high corrosion resistance and impact resistance that is suitable for application in seawaters of various salinity levels and low temperatures (-40℃), and ultimately obtained certification for the special material from an international shipbuilding certification body this past July.


“By leveraging Doosan Heavy’s competency and experience in developing and manufacturing special steels for power plants and marine vessels, we succeeded in locally manufacturing the racks & chords, which had formerly been imported from overseas,” said Kiyong Na, CEO of Doosan Heavy’s Nuclear Business Group. He added, “While establishing a stable supply of special steels for the shipbuilding industry, we plan to continuously expand our business in this area to meet the growing demand in this field.”


With the global offshore wind power market growing at a rapid pace, the demand for wind turbine installation vessels is also on the rise. According to VesselsValue, the UK-based leading market intelligence provider for the maritime & shipbuilding sector, it is forecast that approximately 100 or more wind turbine installation vessels will be needed over the next 10 years.


Doosan Heavy, which first ventured into the wind power business in 2005, is currently the holder of the largest track record for offshore wind turbines in Korea. The company recently build its second wind turbine shop to adequately prepare for the rising demand of offshore wind farms. Doosan currently owns 3MW and 5.5MW wind turbine models and is preparing to commercially launch a 8.8MW model in 2022.


Aerial view of wind turbine installation vessel for which an order was placed by Monaco’s Eneti to DSME this past May


Rack & chord that was successfully manufactured by Doosan Heavy locally. The cogwheel-shaped component is the rack and the circular steel tube surrounding the rack is the chord, both of which are key components of the jack-up leg used by wind turbine installation vessels.