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Panoramic view of Gaon Cable's Gunpo plant. / Gaon Cable

Gaon Cable is making its first foray into the floating solar market by supplying cables to the Seokmun Lake and Saemangeum floating solar projects. The company plans to expand the application of its conduit-integrated cables, previously used in onshore solar power, to water surfaces to secure further orders for large-scale floating solar projects going forward.

On the 14th, Gaon Cable announced that it will supply conduit-integrated aluminum-clad flexible (ACF) cables worth approximately 17 billion won to key domestic floating solar projects, including Seokmun Lake and the Saemangeum Sunlight Sharing initiative. This marks the first time Gaon Cable has won contracts for floating solar projects.

Aluminum-clad flexible cable is a cable featuring a protective aluminum armor on the outside of power cables, allowing installation without separate conduit piping. By eliminating the conduit installation process, it can shorten construction periods. Following its supply of aluminum-clad flexible cables to the Bigeumdo onshore solar project in 2023, Gaon Cable is applying them to floating solar for the first time.

Taking into account the growing scale of floating solar power complexes, the company also developed large-gauge, long-distance products. It explained that construction and maintenance convenience have been enhanced to fit environments where cables must be installed and managed over water surfaces.

Starting with this supply, Gaon Cable aims to expand its participation in domestic floating solar initiatives. The government plans to build a floating solar complex with a total capacity of 1.2 GW in Saemangeum by 2030. The company anticipates that demand for power infrastructure, including cables, will increase as the construction of the power complex gains full momentum.

Gaon Cable is expanding its specialty cable business targeting large-scale power infrastructure, such as AI data centers, solar power facilities, and power plants. Along with aluminum-clad flexible cables, it plans to broaden customer channels for low-friction cables and cable buses, while expanding the application scope of aluminum-clad flexible cables into other power infrastructure areas, including railways and roads.

Gaon Cable CEO Jeong Hyeon stated, "We will continue to expand the application of aluminum-clad flexible cables not only across renewable energy sectors, including floating solar, but also across diverse power infrastructure fields such as railways and roads."

                                                                                                            Lee Seo-yeon