Shipyards are entering the offshore wind industry to offset a major downturn in the shipbuilding business, and to utilize their experience in building structures and vessels for the offshore oil industry.

A Daewoo spokesman says the group is considering building a plant to manufacture wind power equipment in China. Korean media reports suggest a plant could begin production by the end of 2010.

Daewoo earlier this year bought Dewind, a wind power turbine unit of US Composite Technology Corp $46.5m.

“This transaction will help DSME enter the global wind energy market and to establish a strong presence in that market,” said DMSE President and chief executive Sang Tae Nam at the time.

“We will leverage DSME's world class engineering and manufacturing capabilities and DeWind's technology and experience to become one of the world leaders in the wind energy sector”.

DeWind produces a series of wind turbines, including the D8.2 2-megawatt (MW) model, the 2MW D8 model and the 1.25MW D6 model.

Daewo is Korea’s second largest shipbuilder. Larger rival Hyundai Heavy Industries recently began production of wind power gears in South Korea.