South Korea’s Taihan Cable & Solution and Panstar Robotics, established by the Korea Institute of Robotics & Technology Convergence (KIRO), have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to jointly develop remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) that would be deployed domestically, in an effort to reduce reliance on foreign equipment and overseas specialists.

Under the MoU signed on August 19, the companies will develop high-performance ROV trenchers, related operating technologies, and installation solutions, with the aim of building domestic alternatives in areas that currently depend heavily on overseas equipment and expertise, strengthening the self-reliance of Korea’s submarine cable industry while improving project execution reliability and installation efficiency.

The trenchers and operating systems will be used in offshore wind cable systems and long-distance grid interconnection and HVDC submarine cable projects, including the West Coast Energy Highway.

Furthermore, the partners shall conduct demonstration testing of submarine cable burial and protection technologies and pursue commercialization, as well as participate in national R&D programs to further advance the technologies and jointly explore opportunities in overseas markets.

“Developing high-performance ROVs domestically for submarine cable installation goes beyond simply developing equipment; it is an important initiative to strengthen the competitiveness of Korea’s submarine cable supply chain,” said Chun-won Lee, Executive Vice President of Taihan Cable & Solution. “We will continue to strengthen competitiveness across the entire submarine cable value chain, contribute to national energy security, and play a key role in the global market as a total solutions provider for submarine cables.”

Taihan has made a number of moves to strengthen Korea’s submarine cable supply chain. Namely, the company is currently constructing Submarine Cable Plant 2, which will be capable of producing 640kV HVDC submarine cables, following the completion of the first plant.

The South Korean firm also earlier this year finalized the construction of a dedicated cable test center that enables simultaneous testing of two 640 kV-class HVDC cable circuits.

Furthermore, Taihan recently added the cable-laying vessel (CLV) Skandi Connector to its fleet, in addition to PALOS, Korea’s first CLV dedicated to offshore wind.