After a few discussions and news clippings - it seems the hype around Korean turbine suppliers is steadily increasing. Korea is well-respected for its engineering capabilities, ability to manufacture at low cost, and recently it looks to be evolving its own local player, Unison. Vestas is currently paired with this company to carry out the EPC of the 98 MW Gangwon project - though it may soon be seeing the firm as a competitor.
The question seems to be can the Koreans combine the low costs of China with more advanced engineering and turbine design expertise. Given Unison's machine is only a 750 kW effort, but it is gearless and moving along the experience curve. Add another onto the list of small players getting in while turbines are scarce.
2006 saw marked changes in the national rankings in terms of wind power, both
among the market leaders and among the up and coming countries.Sudden activity pushed some markets forward, such as South Korea, others have slowed down as their wind market
matures.
I think this trend is going to continue and we will see a growing participation in the market by smaller and more recent market players such as Sotuh Korea.
Posted by: Euan Blauvelt | 11 January 2007 at 21:10