South Korea is finalising plans to test the country’s first large-scale offshore wind farm project of 1GW in capacity in the Yellow Sea, a local government official says.
The project, expected to cost some 9trn won ($7.8bn), will consist of a first phase 20 test turbines by 2013, with a further ambitious aim to put 1,000 turbines out at sea by 2019.
“The government is finalising the roadmap for the offshore wind farm and it will be released next month (October),” an official from the ministry of knowledge economy tells Recharge.
The test-bedding project will need 200 turbines of 5MW in capacity each, planned for deployment at about 30km off the coast of southwestern South and North Jeolla provinces.
The location was picked for its shallow waters which allow for easier construction and cost savings.
Under Seoul’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), the country is working towards the use of renewable energy from the current 1% of all energy needs to more than 20% by 2020.
At present, fossil fuels generated power accounts for the majority of all energy sources while nuclear power takes up about 14%.
