Huge Profits at Hyundai Heavy's China Turbine Plant
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. is the world’s biggest shipyard, and has recently invested in the construction of a new wind turbine plant in China. The plant, located in Weihai in the eastern province of Shandong is set to open in October and is expected to generate $50 million in sales in its first year. By 2015, the plant is
Hyundai Heavy plans to use the factory to bid for work on a massive new offshore wind farm being planned off the coast of Shanghai. The plant will be capable of producing 300 2-megawatt turbines annually.
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“China is a market you can’t ignore,” says Kim Kweon Tae, head of Hyundai Heavy’s low-carbon energy business. “There will be a lot of competition but we plan to offer better quality and services.”
Hyundai Heavy is looking to raise clean energy sales to 4 trillion won ($3.8 billion) in 2016. This is a dramatic rise from the 600 billion won brought in by the company last year. The company is also looking to acquire solar power companies to boost its solar offerings.
“We are open to opportunities for takeovers in the solar energy business,” says Kim. “We have been approached, but we aren’t in a rush.”
The first turbines produced by the new plant in China will go to the development of a wind farm in Pakistan in a joint agreement between Korea Southern Power Co., Hyundai Engineering Co., Hyundai Corp., and Yunus Brothers of Pakistan. The wind farm will provide 50 megawatts of electricity to power 60,000 homes a year.
