Opportunities in S. Korea as wind plans ramp up
A roadmap to open competitive bidding for offshore wind farms in South Korea has been unveiled by the government.
Trade, Industry and E’nergy vice minister Namho Choe chaired a conference with wind power companies on August 8, announcing the Offshore Wind Power Competitive Bidding Roadmap, ’a fast-paced follow-up to measures announced last month on invigorating solar power generation across industrial complexes’.
With South Korea’s target of installing 18.3GW of wind power by 2030, the brakes will have to come off – there are plenty of projects in the pipeline but not a single wind farm actually generating electricity yet, according to industry analyst 4C Offshore.
“First, the timing of competitive bidding for wind power projects will move up from its initial window in the fourth quarter to the second quarter of each year, and the notice of an additional tender will be released in Q4 if needed,” according to the roadmap. “From the second half of 2024 to the first half of 2026, the government will launch approximately 7–8GW worth of offshore wind power tenders during the two-year period.”
The government will use a two-stage process to evaluate bids, with winning bids those with the highest score from both phases when added together.
For the first time, floating wind turbine projects will be opened up alongside fixed-bottom ones.
According to the government’s statement, the roadmap aims to speed up large-scale investments in offshore wind power to create jobs both domestically and overseas, ’while also spurring the establishment of ports and ships and other related infratructure’.
The first wind power tender for competitive bidding is due to be released next October.
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