Wind power is a form of renewable energy in South Korea with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) and particulate matter (PM) emissions caused by coal based power. After two oil crises dating back to the 1970s, the South Korean government needed to transition to renewable energy, which encouraged their first renewable energy law in 1987.
As of 2015 wind power capacity in South Korea was 835 MW and the wind energy share of total electricity consumption was far below 0,1%. In 2019, South Korea led an initiative in creating energy transition policies, which incorporated wind power along with de-fossil and de-nuclear in the Renewable Energy 2030 Plan.
With wind power being the fastest growing power source in South Korea, the Korean government's plan was to invest $8.2 billion into offshore wind farms in order to increase the total capacity to 2.5 GW until 2019. In April 2020, the government announced the “Korean Green New Deal” which includes plans to drastically increase wind power through the expansion of domestic wind power facilities to include 8 MW offshore wind turbines by 2022 and floating offshore wind systems by 2025.
Current uses
Most wind farms are in the province of Gangwon and Jeju Island because they have mountainous areas with high winds with speeds above 7.5 m/s. Compared to these mountainous areas, the city of Seoul has a much lower wind speed, as its highest average wind speed is 2.85 m/s.
Limitations
There are economic and use limitations that inhibit the widespread use of wind power. The cost of wind energy is higher than conventional energy sources. Many wind farm owners are not satisfied with the service of large manufacturing companies like Vestas US for its high cost. Vestas, a turbine manufacturer, holds a 42.2% market share in the Korean wind energy industry. Shifting the reliance on large corporate manufacturers to local turbine manufacturers may help to reduce costs. There are also costs to transmitting energy from offshore wind farms to destinations. Since wind is not a consistent source of energy and can be affected by climate conditions, wind powered systems need to be accompanied by other energy sources to provide uninterrupted power supply.
Current projects
The Singapore-based subsea engineering company, G8, received approval to build a 1.5GW offshore wind farm in late December 2021. The project is planned to be built off the south-west tip of South Korea with the build site having recorded wind speeds of 7–8 m/s. Current plans are to begin construction, as well as marine works in 2023 or 2024. The project also involves the use of an advanced, long-life lithium ion energy storage system from 3DOM, a technology partner of G8.
FireFly Floating Wind Farm Project
The Firefly Floating Wind Farm Project, which is under development by Equinor South Korea, is part of the Ulsan floating offshore wind project. A memorandum of understanding was signed between Equinor and Ulsan City in May 2019, entailing the two 75 square kilometer areas 800 MW wind farm offshore of Ulsan. The wind farm will include “Wind Semis” as the floating structure, characterized by a semi-submersible foundation allowing for the floatation of the turbines compared to bottom-fixed turbines.
Two LiDAR buoys were placed in the East Sea of Ulsan serving to collect measurements of wind and wave for a year in 2020 to investigate the possibility of the development and construction of the wind farm in the coat of Ulsan. This was followed after the signing of MoU between the Ulsan and Equinor. The goal expected to be met by the creation of these wind farms is to increase South Korea's renewable energy by 30 times by the year 2035.
Data was collected for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) starting in December 2021 for a period of 12 months. This data includes data on marine animals, fish, seawater, and the quality of sediment among other data to note any potential impacts that can be caused by the building and running of the Firefly wind farms. The report was completed and published at the beginning half of the year 2022.
Havfram was appointed to the studying transport, installation and supplying of necessary cables and systems offshore for the windshore project by Equinor in March 2022.