South Korea's shipbuilders diversify into wind market

South Korea's shipbuilders, in particular the big three, are venturing deeper into the onshore and offshore wind market as they filed a higher number of local patent applications for wind power systems. The patent applications surged from 71 in 2002 to 669 in 2010 with an annual growth of 104% on average, according to data from the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO). Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries applied for just two patents in 2007 but the number jumped to 55 last year. The big three, for the first time, filed six patents for offshore wind power generation last year. “South Korean shipbuilders have ample state-of-the-art technologies for ship propellers, engines and offshore structures which are very similar to wind turbine blades and tower parts, and they are striving to enter the offshore wind turbine sector, rather than squeezing into the onshore wind power market currently dominated by European companies,” an official from KIPO said. In its quest for more energy, Korea's government and private companies are planning to install 500 offshore wind turbines on the west coast by 2019.