Jeollanamdo signs Joint Venture Agreement for Offshore Wind

On Tuesday (March 8th), Jeollanamdo signed a joint venture agreement with Danish offshore wind power company Vestas and CS Wind a Korean company.

The ceremony was hosted by the Danish ambassador to Korea, Einar H. Jensen in the Danish embassy in Seoul. The agreement was signed by Jeollanamdo’s Governor Kim Yung-rok and Vestas president and CEO Henrik Andersen as well as CS Wind chairman Kim Sung-kwon.

The agreement is the next step in Jeollanamdo’s ambitious plan to establish the world’s largest offshore wind farm at the size of 8.2 GW. Through the joint venture, Vestas and CS-Wind plan to establish competitive production facilities for assembling wind towers, blades and turbines in Jeollanamdo.

Further information on Jeollanamdo’s 8.2 GW wind farm can be found here.

Korea Institute of Energy Technology (Kentech) in Naju welcomes its first students

On Wednesday (March 2nd) the Korea Institue of Energy Technology (Kentech) welcomed its first students at its brand new campus in Naju, Jeollanamdo. Kentech is Korea’s first and only university dedicated to energy studies, vowing to foster global talents in fight of climate change and to master the transition to renewable green energy.

The major research areas of Kentech are energy artificial intelligence (AI), new energy materials, the next-generation grid, hydrogen energy, and environmental and climate technology.

The university plans with up to 1,000 students and 100 professors by 2025, the long-term goal is to establish Kentech as one of the world’s top 10 universities by 2050.

Jeollanamdo and Esbjerg sign MoU

Kim Yung-rok, governor of South Korea’s province Jeollanamdo and Jesper Frost Rasmussen, mayor of Esbjerg Commune in the Kingdom of Denmark signed a MoU on Wednesday (30.06.2021) morning.

Through the memorandum both parties promise closer cooperation in the fields of renewable energy to fight climate change together. They plan to achieve this by exchanging information and experience as well as exploring possibilities for joint commercial projects and partnerships.

The main focus of this new cooperation will be on offshore wind energy. Just earlier this year, Jeollanamdo has announced to build a 8.2 GW wind farm at the coast of Sinan county. It will become the largest wind farm in the world. Jeollanamdo and Esbjerg are ideal partners, as Esbjerg is one of the world’s leading ports in providing infrastructure for off shore wind parks in the North Sea of Europe.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic the signing ceremony was held online. The MoU will have a duration of three years but can be expended.

Spanish firm to invest $100 m in Jeollanamdo

During a business forum in Madrid, Spain, with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, South Korea’s President Moon Jae In proposed a closer partnership between the two countries in order to tackle climate change in a combined effort.

Shortly after the meeting two Spanish firms revealed their plans to invest a combined sum of $ 200 m in the renewable energy business in South Korea. While the Madrid based company Ocean Winds will make an initial investment of $ 100 m to establish an offshore wind power plant in Incheon, EDPR will invest an additional $ 100 m in a solar power farm in Goheung, Jeollanamdo.

This investment is another big step in Jeollanamdo’s blue economy plan to become a center of Korea’s renewable energy industry. Just earlier this year, President Moon unveiled plans for the world’s biggest wind farm just west of the coast of Mokpo (Read more here).