America’s Looming Electricity Crisis Is Trump’s Achilles’ Heel
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in the Telegraph.
This is the sub-heading.
Culture war banter and point-scoring have left Maga facing a self-inflicted energy shortage
These are the first three paragraphs.
The US is in danger of losing the global AI race for the most banal and careless of reasons: it is critically short of electricity.
The country is sitting on a neglected pre-modern grid that cannot meet surging power demand for data centres, cryptocurrencies, the reshoring of semiconductor plants and the proclaimed revival of the American industrial base.
Nor can it meet the needs for air conditioning through hotter and more humid summers. While we all talk about AI, the chief cause of rising electricity use last year was for cooling. Bitcoin mining took another 2pc of US power, for no productive purpose.
It looks like we can add simple arithmetic to the skills the Trump Administration lacks.
The Telegraph article and myself have some other thoughts.
The Planned Increase In Electricity Is A Fifth Of What’s Needed
This is a paragraph from the Telegraph.
The US Energy Department said in its Resource Adequacy Report in July that the planned increase in firm electricity supply is a fifth of what is needed by 2030.
In Renewable Power By 2030 In The UK, I stated that by 2030, the UK would add nearly 59 GW of offshore wind.
Surely, using the population size difference of four times, 240 GW of offshore wind, would do the USA nicely?
But, Trump doesn’t like wind turbines.
Texas Has A Shortage Of Electricity
These are two paragraphs from the Telegraph.
The Texas grid operator Ercot expects peak power demand in its region to soar from 87 gigawatts (GW) this year to 138 GW by 2030. This is physically impossible.
Texas passed a law in June giving the state emergency authority to cut off power to data centres. Ercot is already having to deploy “mobile generation plants” at exorbitant cost to avert blackouts even today.
It sounds pretty desperate.
Texas needs another 51 GW by 2030, which is less than we intend to delivery from just offshore wind.
If Little Great Britain can do it, then surely Texas can? After all, Texas is three almost times larger than the UK.
I get the idea, that someone isn’t doing any planning.
The United States Needs A Lot Of Transformers
These are three paragraphs from the Telegraph.
The National Infrastructure Advisory Council (Niac) says the average age of America’s 60 million large power transformers is 38 years. Many are beyond their design life.
The US supply chain is not capable of delivering the 12 million new transformers needed each year to keep the show on the road. The backlog has risen to four years. The cost of transformers has jumped 80pc since the pandemic.
There is an acute shortage of electrical steel needed to make them. This comes mostly from China, Japan, Korea or Germany. In his infinite wisdom, Trump has imposed 50pc tariffs on steel, aluminium and copper. That cost shock has yet to feed through.
The Niac says it is a similar tale for “other critical grid components such as conduit, smart meters, switchgear and high-voltage circuit breakers”.
It looks like, there’s another fine mess, you’ve got us in, Donny!
Maga Wants More Coal
These are three paragraphs from the Telegraph.
The quickest way to generate more power is to roll out wind and solar. Trump is actively intervening to obstruct this. Maga wants coal instead.
This week the administration announced $625m of taxpayer subsidy to “expand and reinvigorate” the coal industry. It will open new federal lands, slash the royalty fees for extracting coal, and lift curbs on mercury pollution.
“In addition to drill, baby drill, we need to mine, baby, mine,” said Doug Burgum, the interior secretary.
When it should be spin, baby, spin.
Conclusion
Read the article in full.
We certainly, don’t want anybody, with an energy policy like Trump, influencing the UK’s energy policy.
If Trump carries on like this, he’ll end up in a terrible mess.
One Of The Five Large Buses Sold In Korea This Year Is Hydrogen-Powered
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in Pulse.
These are the first three paragraphs.
Nearly one in five large buses sold in South Korea in 2025 to date has been a hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV). In response, Hyundai Motor Co. is increasingly focusing on hydrogen-powered commercial transport amid sluggish demand for hydrogen-powered passenger cars.
According to data from the Korea Automobile & Mobility Association (KAMA) and Hyundai Motor, 380 hydrogen-powered buses were sold in the first five months of 2025, out of 1,923 large buses sold overall. The market share stood at 19.8 percent, indicating a significant increase from 6 percent in 2023 and 14.4 percent the previous year.
Analysts say hydrogen power is better suited for commercial vehicles than for passenger cars. While electric vehicles work well for lighter, smaller vehicles, hydrogen-powered systems offer key advantages for larger vehicles, including longer range, shorter refueling times, and greater payload capacity.
Korea and Germany certainly have more hydrogen-powered buses than the UK.
But then we are rather lagging behind other countries in the use of hydrogen. I am certainly writing fewer hydrogen stories since the change of government.
The Hindenberg has done a wonderful job, in convincing politicians that hydrogen is dangerous.
South Korea Aims To Lead The Global Market With Hydrogen Train
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railly News.
These are the first two introductory paragraphs.
South Korea is taking an ambitious step with a vision of becoming a major player in the rapidly growing global hydrogen rail market. To 26,4 billion dollars The country that wants to gain a competitive advantage in this market that is expected to reach A self-developed Hydrogen Train by 2028 announced plans to introduce.
This strategic project is the national railway operator of South Korea korail will be managed by Korail, Building a two-car hydrogen train prototype by 2027 and creating the necessary legal and operational infrastructure for the dissemination of this technology. $23 million will make an investment. South Korean officials also clearly state that they aim to set international standards in the field of hydrogen-based mobility with this project.
I’ve thought for some time, that the Koreans have been serious about hydrogen-powered transport, as Hyundai keeps popping up with hydrogen transport and other ideas.
British company; Centrica owns a big share with Hyundai, Kia and others of a British start-up company from Hull, called HiiROC.
This is the HiiROC web site.
HiiROC can take any hydocarbon gas and split it into green hydrogen and carbon black.
Green hydrogen is obviously useful and the carbon black can be used for making tyres for vehicles, anodes for lithium-ion batteries and in agriculture for soil improvement.
Waste off-gas from a chemical plant can be split into green hydrogen and carbon black.
Biomethane from a sewage plant can be split into hydrogen and carbon black. Could a sewage plant on an estate be used to create biomethane for cooking and feeding to the HiiROC plant? Yes!
Could green hydrogen produced on the estate be used to drive vehicles like cars, vans and ride-on-mowers. Yes! If the manufacturer of the vehicle allows it!
How convenient would it be to have Hydrogen-at-Home?
The Korean investment in HiiROC by Hyundai and Kia clearly fits with the philosophy expressed in the second paragraph of the article of creating the hydrogen infrastructure.
I believe that at some point in the future, you will be able to buy a HiiROC device, that gives you as much hydrogen as you need to power your car, truck, bus, tram or train. The Koreans have a track record of turning ideas like this into reality.
SeAH Steel Holdings’ UK Monopile Factory To Launch With Major Offshore Wind Deals
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the CHOSUN Daily.
These three paragraphs give more details.
SeAH Wind, the British offshore wind structure subsidiary of SeAH Steel Holdings, is set to begin commercial operations at its local plant next month, bolstering annual revenue growth projected to reach billions of dollars. The facility has received a total investment of £900 million ($1.1 billion or 1.6 trillion won), and the company has already secured orders surpassing the plant’s construction costs, ensuring a solid foundation for stable operations, according to industry sources.
Located in Teesside, northeastern England, the plant is in the final stages of equipment installation and test production ahead of its commercial launch. The facility has an annual production capacity of up to 400,000 metric tons of monopiles—cylindrical steel structures welded from thick steel plates—which serve as seabed foundations for offshore wind turbines.
The £900 million SeAH Wind plant was established with support from various group affiliates. SeAH Steel Holdings founded SeAH Wind in the UK in 2021, initially investing approximately 400 billion won ($274 million or £217 million) in the facility. Additional funding was secured through capital increases, with contributions from SeAH Steel Holdings, its steel pipe subsidiary SeAH Steel, and overseas branches, including U.S.-based SeAH Steel America and South Korea-based SeAH Steel International.
As the UK’s sole offshore wind monopile supplier, SeAH Wind has attracted significant attention. On Feb. 13, King Charles III visited the plant to inspect its production facilities, underscoring its strategic role in the country’s renewable energy sector.
The plant is making monopiles for the Hornsea 3 and Norfolk Vanguard wind farms.
Gatwick’s Hydrogen Advantage Over Heathrow
The Future Of Hydrogen In Aviation
I believe that hydrogen will have a big future in aviation.
Powering Aircraft
It will be some years, but not as many as some people think, before we see hydrogen-powered aircraft in the air.
Airbus have produced this infographic of three possible hydrogen-powered aircraft.
Discover the three zero-emission concept aircraft known as ZEROe in this infographic. These turbofan, turboprop, and blended-wing-body configurations are all hydrogen hybrid aircraft.
I wrote a bit more about these three hydrogen-powered concepts in ZEROe – Towards The World’s First Zero-Emission Commercial Aircraft.
My best estimate is that we’ll see hydrogen-powered aircraft in the air by 2035.
Towing Aircraft Around
Most aircraft are very heavy and towing them around needs a lot of zero-carbon energy.
So I think it is likely, that at some time in the near future,tugs to tow large aircraft around an airport will be hydrogen powered.
If you type “hydrogen-powered aircraft tug” into Google, you get several sensible product developments, including ones from.
- Exeter Airport
- Teesside Airport
- The Royal Air Force.
- The US Air Force
Note.
- The involvement of the military.
- At least two of the tugs are conversions of existing equipment.
- The extra weight of the battery in an electric-powered tug, may make the realisation of a viable electric aircraft-tug difficult.
I suspect we’ll see hydrogen-powered aircraft tugs in use on airports around the world in the near future.
Long-Term Car-Park Buses
I would have thought that using hydrogen-powered or battery-electric buses to serve long-term car-parks at an airport would be an obvious application. But it does appear that airports using zero-carbon buses to serve long-term car-parks are not very common.
- Gatwick uses a large fleet of hydrogen buses to bring passengers and staff to the airport, but these don’t appear to be linked to car parking.
- Incheon Airport in Korea does appear to use hydrogen-powered buses.
Please let me know, if you know of any other uses of hydrogen-powered vehicles at airports.
Hydrogen For Heathrow
This Google Map shows Heathrow Airport.
Note.
- The M4 going across the map.
- The two main runways.
- A new third runway would go between the M4 and the Northern runway.
It is likely if the third runway goes ahead, the village of Harmondsworth will be flattened.
It is likely that supplying hydrogen to Heathrow will mean a hydrogen terminal somewhere South of the M4, which could be supplied by rail tankers.
Hydrogen For Gatwick
This Google Map shows Gatwick Airport.
Note.
- The current main runway with the emergency runway to its North.
- Because the runways are too close together they cannot be used simultaneously.
- To create a second runway, the two runways would be moved further apart and the current emergency runway would be enlarged.
- The Brighton Main Line runs North-South past the Eastern end of the main runway.
Gatwick’s expansion plan doesn’t appear to require any properties outside the airport boundaries to be demolished.
This Google Map shows Sussex between Gatwick Airport and Brighton.
Note.
- Gatwick Airport is indicated by the red arrow at the top of the map.
- Gatwick’s runways can be picked out under the red arrow.
- The South Coast is at the bottom of the map.
- The M23 and the Brighton Main Line connect Gatwick Airport and Brighton.
- Shoreham and Brighton are on the South Coast.
- Click the map to show on a larger scale.
Under current plans, the Ramplion offshore wind farm off the South Coast is going to be increased in size to 1.6 GW.
The simplest plan to provide large amounts of green hydrogen to Gatwick would be to build a large electrolyser in the Port of Shoreham and pipe it along the railway to Gatwick Airport. Hydrogen could also be shipped at night into the Airport using rail tankers.
There’s no doubt in my mind, that it will be much easier to supply large quantities of hydrogen to Gatwick, rather than Heathrow.
In 2023, I wrote Discover How Greater Brighton Is Championing The Transition To Hydrogen, which probably indicates that the locals and their politicians, would welcome the investment in hydrogen in their city.
It should also be noted that world class consultants Ricardo, who are very much involved in the development and promotion of hydrogen technology are based in Shoreham.
Liquid hydrogen could also be imported and distributed from the Port of Shoreham.
Brighton could end up as the South of England’s Hydrogen City.
South Korean Firm To Supply Power Equipment For Ørsted’s Hornsea 4 Offshore Wind Farm
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Denmark’s Ørsted has awarded a contract to Hyosung Heavy Industries for the supply of ultra-high voltage power equipment for the Hornsea 4 offshore wind farm in the UK
These two paragraphs add a bit of detail.
Under the contract, the South Korean company will supply 400 kV ultra-high voltage transformers and reactors, essential components for improving power quality for the 2.4 GW Hornsea 4 offshore wind project.
The most recent contract further strengthens the company’s presence in Europe, where it has accumulated over 1 trillion won (about EUR 667 million) in orders this year, as reported by the company.
Hyosung Heavy Industries seem to be doing rather well at supplying electrical gubbins in Europe.
But then Korean companies seem to be doing well in Europe and especially the UK, after the state visit of the Korean President and his wife in November 2023.
In the last century, we did very well dealing with Korean companies with Artemis; the project management computer system, that I wrote.
In Hyundai Heavy Sets Sights On Scottish Floating Offshore Wind, I describe some of our dealings there.
Conclusion
From other posts, I have written, it looks like the UK and Korea are building a strong partnership with offshore wind, and a secondary one with tidal power might be emerging. We also shouldn’t forget the partnership in North London over football.
Could Liverpool Develop A Massive Zero-Carbon Data Centre?
There is an article in The Sunday Times today, which is entitled Google Signs Nuclear Deal To Power AI Data Centres.
These are the first three paragraphs of the article.
Google has struck a deal with a nuclear power start-up to provide low-carbon energy for its data centres and AI operations, marking a world-first in the tech industry.
The California-based company said the agreement to buy energy from multiple small modular reactors developed by Kairos Power could help spur a nuclear revival in America.
The first reactor is scheduled to come online in America by 2030, followed by additional deployments through 2035.
I am not against nuclear-powered data centres, but could Liverpool build a massive zero-carbon data centre?
This Google Map shows Liverpool Bay, which is a vast expanse of water that stretches along the North Wales coast to Anglesey and all the way to the Isle of Man.
Note.
- The Isle of Man in the North-West corner.
- Liverpool, Birkenhead and the River Mersey in the South-East corner.
- Anglesey in the South-West corner.
- Blackpool with Morecambe Bay to its North in the North-East corner.
Liverpool Bay could be one of Europe’s zero-carbon energy powerhouses.
Wind Farms In Liverpool Bay
At the present time, these wind farms are producing electricity or planned in Liverpool Bay.
- Barrow – 90 MW – Commissioned in 2006
- Burbo Bank – 90 MW – Commissioned in 2007
- Burbo Bank Extension – 258 MW – Commissioned in 2017
- Gwynt y Môr – 576 MW – Commissioned in 2015
- North Hoyle – 60 MW – Commissioned in 2003
- Ormonde – 150 MW – Commissioned in 2012
- Rhyl Flats – 90 MW – Commissioned in 2009
- Walney – 367 MW – Commissioned in 2010
- Walney Extension – 659 MW – Commissioned in 2018
- West if Duddon Sands – 389 MW – Commissioned in 2014
- Awel y Môr – 500 MW – Planned
- Morecambe – 480 MW – Planned
- Mona – 1500 MW – Planned
- Morgan – 1500 MW – Planned
Note.
- 2509 MW has been commissioned.
- 3980 MW is being planned.
- That is a total of 6489 MW
I suspect more space in Liverpool Bay could be developed with wind farms.
Mersey Tidal Power
The Mersey Tidal Power project has a web site.
If it is built, it will probably be built by the South Korean company; K-Water and use some of the design principles of the Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station.
It will likely have an output of around 1 GW and take ten years to build.
In the 1970s, I did some project management consultancy for Frederick Snow and Partners, and they showed me their plans for a Severn Barrage.
Their futuristic vision for the Severn Estuary was never built, as the Prime Minister of the time; Harold Wilson, felt coal was the future. See Last Of The Many!
I suspect that the Mersey Tidal Power project will be another variation on a proven theme.
Morecambe Bay Bridge And Tidal Barrage Proposal
In the Wikipedia entry for Morecambe Bay, there is a proposal for a bridge and tidal barrage across the bay, where this is said.
In 2004, a proposal was made to build a bridge across the bay flanked by wind turbines and using tidal power. Proposals from Northern Tidal Power Gateways in 2019 outlined a tidal barrage with a road running along on top.
If the Mersey Tidal Power project is a success, then why wouldn’t one across Morecambe Bay, be one too?
500 MW of zero-carbon tidal power would do nicely!
Nuclear Sites At Calder Hall, Heysham And Wylfa
These three nuclear stations have supplied electricity to the North-West of England.
- Calder Hall was the original Magnox site, which the Wikipedia entry says had a nameplate capacity of 240 MW and was decommissioned in 2003, after running for 47 years.
- Heysham is a powerful site which the Wikipedia entry says has a nameplate capacity of 2452 MW and will be decommissioned in 2028.
- Wylfa is an older, smaller Magnox site which the Wikipedia entry says had a nameplate capacity of 1190MW and was decommissioned in 2015.
As the sites are cleared, I am sure that we’ll see more nuclear power stations built on the sites.
How Much Electricity Does A Data Centre Use?
I found this paragraph in an NESO document.
Regardless of this, if we were to use existing market data and modelling projections, this could point to annual data centre electricity consumptions of between 3.6 TWh in 2020 to as much as 35 TWh by 2050.
Dividing by the hours in a year, indicates that an individual data centre could use between 0.4 and 4 GW of electricity.
Using my rough figures here from wind, tidal and nuclear, I suspect that the power on the Mersey will generate enough power for at least one data centre.
Liverpool Is On The Right Side Of The Country For Cables To North America
Cables will go straight out of Liverpool Bay, pass to the North of Ireland and across the Atlantic to somewhere like Puget Sound.
Liverpool has a superb location for a Transatlantic data centre, that connects to networks on both sides of the pond.
Could Underwater Data Centres Be Developed In Liverpool Bay?
This page on the Microsoft web site is entitled Microsoft Finds Underwater Datacenters Are Reliable, Practical And Use Energy Sustainably
These three paragraphs detail the research.
Earlier this summer, marine specialists reeled up a shipping-container-size datacenter coated in algae, barnacles and sea anemones from the seafloor off Scotland’s Orkney Islands.
The retrieval launched the final phase of a years-long effort that proved the concept of underwater datacenters is feasible, as well as logistically, environmentally and economically practical.
Microsoft’s Project Natick team deployed the Northern Isles datacenter 117 feet deep to the seafloor in spring 2018. For the next two years, team members tested and monitored the performance and reliability of the datacenter’s servers.
I would assume that Microsoft have continued the research, as with something like this you can’t be too careful.
But it would appear, that data centres and their servers could be submerged under the waters of Liverpool Bay.
London And Liverpool Will Be Under Two Hours By Train Within A Year
New Class 807 trains, which will be delivered within a year, will improve the train service between the two cities.
- Train times will be brought to around or even below two hours.
- , The extra trains will allow a second hourly service to be added.
- The extra service will additionally stop at Liverpool South Parkway station, for the airport.
- High Speed Two is claiming one hour and fifty minutes, between London and Liverpool.
Liverpool already has one of the best rail terminals in the North of England, as these pictures show.
With these service improvements, it will have a service to London and the South, that will be second to no other Northern station.
Liverpool Has A Refurbished Partly-Underground Suburban Railway With New Trains
Liverpool’s Metro is one of the best in Europe for a medium-sized city.
The Metro is also expanding with new routes and stations.
These pictures show the new Headbolt Lane station, which is swerved by the UK’s first battery-electric trains.
Liverpool Has Easy Access To Two International Airports
There are two international airports close by; Liverpool John Lennon and Manchester International.
- For Liverpool Airport, it’s a bus from Liverpool South Parkway station or an express bus from Liverpool city centre.
- For Manchester Airport, it’s a train from Lime Street station.
I am fairly sure, that a hydrofoil could connect Liverpool’s Waterfront and the Tidal Barrier to the airport.
North-West England Has A Rich University Tradition
Liverpool, Manchester and the surrounding area has several world-class universities and research establishments.
Some like The Pandemic Institute would be able to find uses for all the computing power and artificial intelligence on offer at a powerful data centre.
Liverpool Is A World City
Liverpool is a World City, where there is plenty of sport, entertainment and things to do.
Conclusion
Liverpool is installing the power infrastructure for a very large data centre, that will be able to handle the world’s largest and most difficult problems.
Cummins Debuts Integrated HELM Drivetrain At IAA
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on truckinginfo.com.
This is the sub-heading under a rather informative image.
Cummins’ integrated drivetrain offers fleets three powertrain options: advanced diesel, diesel-hybrid and zero-carbon hydrogen.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Cummins pulled the curtain back on a new integrated drivetrain concept at the IAA Transport Show in Hannover, Germany, on September 17. According to Jennifer Rumsey, Cummins chair and CEO, the newly designed drivetrain is based on the OE’s HELM engine platform. It is also intended to highlight Cummins’ broader product portfolio and continued commitment to providing flexible, sustainable power solutions.
The Cummins HELM engine platform is a fuel-agnostic series of engine versions that are derived from a common base.
The article could be called the Jennifer and Jane Show, after the two people, who provided most of the words.
When I was dealing with large American corporations in the last century, one lady would have been a rarity, but two at the top indicates how Cummins has turned itself into a sustainable company for the twenty-first century.
The Cummins Integrated Drivetrain Concept
The Cummins Integrated Drivetrain Concept is shown in a Cummins image in the trucking.info.com article.
- Up-front is a 15-litre internal combustion engine, which can be diesel, natural-gas or hydrogen-fueled.
- As Cummins manufacture fuel cells, I suspect that the motive power can be one or more hydrogen fuel cells.
- It looks like along each side of the truck are tanks for the hydrogen fuel cells.
- Between the tanks is a powerful electric motor, that drives the rear axle.
- The electric rear axle could incorporate batteries for regenerative braking and traction efficiency.
A vehicle of any size between a Fiat 500 and a 44-tonne articulated truck could use this integrated drivetrain concept, with components sized accordingly.
This is a paragraph from the trucking.info.com article.
Rumsey emphasized that Cummins’ acquisition of Meritor, Siemens Commercial Vehicles and Jacobs Vehicle Systems in recent years means Cummins can now offer full powertrain capability.
Don’t develop your own, if you can buy the best!
Siemens electric motors and Cummins diesel engines are used in London’s New Routemaster buses.
Could The Cummins Integrated Drivetrain Concept Be Used For A Small Car?
I don’t see why not?
Just watch the Koreans, who are going large on hydrogen.
Korean Hydrogen Bus Adoption Emerging To Block Low-Priced Electric Buses From China
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on BusinessKorea.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Major Korean business groups such as Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, and POSCO are expanding the introduction of hydrogen buses. They are more efficient than electric buses, and can run 635 kilometers on a single charge, making them suitable for long-distance commuting. Expanding hydrogen mobility, including buses, is considered the first step in building an entire hydrogen ecosystem.
SK Group is one of the most active companies in expanding hydrogen buses. According to SK Group on May 26, SK siltron has decided to replace its commuter buses for employees of its Gumi plant in North Gyeongsang Province with hydrogen buses. Additional deployments are under consideration after a pilot run in the first half of the year. In early May, SK hynix introduced three of the Universe model, Hyundai’s hydrogen bus for commuting. SK E&S recently completed the world’s largest liquefied hydrogen plant in Incheon and plans to soon expand its hydrogen refueling stations nationwide to 20.
The Korean bus seem to have developed a strategy to protect themselves from the Chinese.
I have a few thoughts.
Korea And HiiROC
Hyundai and Kia have joined Centrica in taking stakes in Hull-based startup HiiROC, which I wrote about in Meet HiiROC, The Startup Making Low-Cost Hydrogen Free From Emissions.
London’s Future Bus Fleet
There are rumours on the Internet that Sadiq Khan, will replace all London’s buses with new Chinese buses.
How will I get around, as I don’t ride in anything that was made in China?
Conclusion
We live in interesting times.
Hyundai Heavy Sets Sights On Scottish Floating Offshore Wind
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Major South Korean shipbuilder, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with two Scottish enterprise agencies which is expected to unlock expertise in the design and manufacture of floating offshore wind substructures.
These are the first three paragraphs.
Scottish Enterprise (SE) and Highlands & Islands Enterprise (HIE) signed the MoU with Hyundai Heavy in Edinburgh, described as a “vote of confidence” in Scotland, committing each other to pursue opportunities for floating offshore wind projects in Scotland.
This is the South Korean company’s first agreement in Europe on floating offshore wind manufacturing.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries is the world’s largest shipbuilding company and a major manufacturer of equipment such as the floating substructures that form a critical part of the multi-billion offshore wind supply chain.
To say this is a big deal, could be a massive understatement, as my history with large Korean companies could say otherwise.
Around 1980, one of the first prestigious overseas projects, that was managed by Artemis was in Saudi Arabia.
- This may have been something like the King Khaled City, but I can’t be sure.
- Most of the hard work on the project was done by labour imported by Hyundai from South Korea.
After a few years, the Korean running Hyundai’s part of the project returned to Korea and he indicated that he would help us break into the Korean market.
Our salesman; Paul, with responsibility for Korea, who sadly passed away last year, told me this tale of doing business in the country.
Our Korean friend had bought a system for Hyundai in Korea and he organised a meeting for important Korean companies, so that Paul could present the system.
Everything went well, with our friend doing the necessary pieces of translation.
When he had finished, Paul asked if there were any questions.
The most common one was “Can we see the contract?”
Contracts were given out and after a cursory read, the leaders of Korean industry, all started signing the contracts.
So Paul asked our Korean friend, what was going on.
After a brief discussion, Paul was told. “If it’s good enough for Hyundai, it’s good enough for my company!”
And that was how we broke the Korean market.
Conclusion
In UK And South Korea Help Secure Millions For World’s Largest Monopile Factory, I talked about Korean company; SeAH Wind’s new monopile factory on Teesside.
In South Korea, UK Strengthen Offshore Wind Ties, I talk about a developing partnership.
In Mersey Tidal Project And Where It Is Up To Now, I talk about Korean involvement in the Mersey Tidal Project.
The Koreans are coming and Hyundai’s endorsement will help.
The Anonymous Widower 