Orsted Shelves 1.4GW Incheon Offshore Wind Project in South Korea

Danish offshore wind developer Orsted has suspended its bid for what would have been South Korea's largest offshore wind project, off the coast of Incheon.

The company has decided to temporarily shelve the 1.4GW project, will not participate in the South Korean government's upcoming fixed-price contract competitive bidding round for offshore wind, and will undertake a comprehensive review of the scheme.

Orsted said in an internal notice that it plans to restructure across its global organisation, including its South Korean subsidiary, and that the project does not meet the company's internal investment criteria.

The project was to consist of two phases of 800MW and 600MW, and would have been the largest offshore wind development undertaken by a single private developer in South Korea.

The decision removes a substantial block of prospective demand from the regional offshore wind supply chain. A 1.4GW build programme carries requirements for foundation installation, cable lay and turbine installation tonnage, along with service operation vessels for the operational phase, and Asian yards and vessel owners had been positioning against a pipeline that included it.

The suspension is a marked shift for a developer that had been actively advancing the project, with partnerships and geotechnical investigations completed in recent months.

Fixed-price auction rounds set the revenue side of a project before construction costs are locked in. Where turbine, cable and installation pricing has risen faster than the auction ceiling, developers face a choice between bidding at returns below their investment threshold or standing aside, and Orsted has repeatedly chosen the latter across several markets.