Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. said yesterday it will build a wind turbine manufacturing plant in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, stepping up its efforts to tap the green energy business

Hyundai Heavy, the world’s largest shipbuilder seeking for a new growth engine, plans to spend 1,057 billion won ($760 million) on the facility, which would be capable of producing 600 megawatts per year from wind power generators.

The Ulsan-based company hopes to complete construction by September and begin production of 1.65-megawatt-class turbines from October. It hopes to expand the production capacity of wind power generators to reach 800 megawatts per year by 2013.

Hyundai aims for an annual revenue of 1.6 trillion won from the plant, which will also make other key facilities for wind energy development such as transformers and power converters.

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Hyundai Heavy is currently building a dockyard which it says is big enough to build all types of vessels and a ship block plant in the southern port city, with an investment of 1.2 trillion won. Construction is due for completion in June.

Also in North Jeolla, POSCO Engineering & Construction Co., an affiliate of steel giant POSCO, is also planning to construct an offshore wind power complex of the 100-megawatt class from 2011 to 2015.