As part of the strategy for environmentally friendly recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korea has developed a plan to build an 8.2 GW offshore wind farm by 2030. The project is expected to cost $43.2 billion.
The construction of a huge offshore wind farm is an important part of the New Green Deal. This program of South Korean President Moon Jae-in was initiated last year. It involves limiting the use of fossil fuels in the republic, the fourth largest economy among Asian nations, and achieving carbon neutrality for the entire country by 2050.
The contract to build the 8.2 GW wind farm, designed to be the largest in the world, has already been awarded. Moon Jae-in attended the signing ceremony, which was held in the southwestern city of Sinan. Commenting on the event, the president noted that the project will help accelerate the transition to exclusively clean energy and the movement toward carbon neutrality.
Many major utility and engineering companies in South Korea also participated in the event. According to the presidential administration, the companies will invest $42.4 billion in the power plant, with the national government contributing the rest – $0.8 billion.
The wind farm will create up to 5,600 jobs and will make a significant contribution to increase the total capacity of wind power installations in the Republic of Korea from the current 1.67 GW to 16.5 GW by 2030.
According to government officials, the future wind power plant will be equivalent to six nuclear reactors in terms of capacity – 8.2 GW – and in terms of the environment it will have the same effect as planting 71 million pine trees. By comparison, the world’s largest offshore wind farm today, Hornsea 1, located in the United Kingdom, has a maximum capacity of 1.12 GW.