South Korea plans to build an 8.2GW offshore wind farm in Jeonnam province by 2030. This was announced by the Moon Jae-In administration on February 5, 2021 after the signing of a $43 billion deal.
The South Korean government said that will be the world's biggest offshore wind power complex, as it seeks to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
South Korea has very few energy resources of its own and relies mostly on imported coal, which is a cheap but non-environmental friendly fuel, for around 40 percent of its electricity.
World’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm
•The Jeonnam wind project will cost a total of $43.2 billion and is expected to lead to the creation of around 117,500 jobs and 450 companies.
•The 8.2GW wind farm is expected to be seven times larger than the UK's 1.2GW Hornsea 1.
•The construction of around 3.5GW capacity will start by 2023 led by the government, with state-owned utility Kepco awarded a contract for 1.5GW of capacity.
•Private companies including Hanwha and SK E&S will begin constructing 600MW of capacity this year with the remaining 4.1GW capacity still undergoing a feasibility study.
•South Korean President has pledged to make South Korea one of the world's five biggest countries for installed offshore wind capacity by 2030 and says the government will enact a special law to accelerate the project.
Significance |
| The offshore wind farm project is expected to boost South Korea's wind power capacity to 16.5 GW by 2030 from 1.67 GW now. The envisaged 8.2 GW is almost equal to the energy produced by six nuclear reactors. |
Background
The offshore wind farm project is a major component of President Moon Jae-in's Green New Deal, which was initiated in 2020 to curb reliance on fossil fuels in Asia's fourth-largest economy and make it carbon neutral by 2050.
The South Korean President had overseen the signing of $43.2 billion agreement during a signing ceremony in the southwestern coastal town of Sinan.
He had said during the occasion that the project will help accelerate the nation's eco-friendly energy transition and its goal to achieve carbon neutrality.
South Korea is looking to phase out nuclear power and plans to cut its existing nuclear power plants, which is currently the country's only significant low-carbon energy source, from 24 to 17 by 2034.
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