The government of South Korea has announced its intention to build a giant offshore wind farm off the country's west coast by 2019. The principal goal, other than developing new sources of renewable energy, is to help its own wind turbine exporters.
The wind farm, to be built near the southwestern regions of Buan and Yeonggwang, will generate about 2.5 GW of electricity.
Under the 9.2 trillion won (US $8.2 billion) project, companies such as Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering plan to build 500 turbines, according to a statement from the Ministry of Economics. The government will coordinate the project and provide 29 billion won while private investors finance the rest.
"Heavy machinery manufacturers such as Samsung Heavy Industries and STX Heavy Industries and even the country's major shipbuilders and are working hard to enter the lucrative global wind power market, but they need a track record to actually build and operate wind farms to export their products," said the Ministry, "which estimates that current global offshore wind farm projects amount to 154 GW of generation. Important considerations in choosing offshore wind are the alleviation of the pressure on land space, less environmental damage and fewer potential complaints from residents," they also mentioned.
Asia's fourth largest economy imports 97 percent of its energy needs from overseas and has moved to cut dependence on fossil fuels and diversify energy sources. Last month Seoul unveiled a five-year plan to spend $36 billion in developing renewable energy as its next economic growth stimulator, with the goal of becoming one of the worlds five top players in the global wind power sector.
source: APEC-VC Korea
