Jeollanamdo’s 8.2 GW wind complex
On February 5th 2021, South Korean President Moon Jae-in unveiled the investment agreement to form the world’s largest offshore wind farm in Sinan-gun, Jeollanamdo. The wind farm will be located off the coast of Sinan-gun, a county consisting of over 1000 islands, just west of the coast of Mokpo and Yeongam county. According to President Moon, the city of Mokpo will become the logistics hub, while large manufacturing complexes will be build in Yeongam and Sinan to produce the needed equipment.
The wind farm to be built on the waters off Sinan will be as much as seven times the size of the world’s current largest wind power complex. The 8.2 gigawatts of electricity to be generated here is equivalent to the capacity of six new Korean nuclear power reactors combined. This immense amount of electricity can meet the needs of every household in Seoul and Incheon.
President Moon Jae-in
The agreement includes a 48 trillion Won investment plan as well as a plan to create about 120,000 jobs in Jeollanamdo by 2030. The wind farm is part of the President’s Korean New Deal, a plan to focus investments on technologies which help to move the country towards carbon neutrality by 2050.
Further information on the Korean New Deal plan by President Moon Jae-in can be found on the website of the Korean Ministry of Economy and Finance. The Ministry provides a detailed English booklet explaining the Korean New Deal. It can be downloaded here.
Current Wind Power Industry in Korea
| 2010 | 2019 | |
| Installation capacity | 373 MW | 1490 MW |
| No. of complexes | 28 | 103 |
| No. of turbines | 233 | 693 |
| Rate of units made overseas | 94.1 % | 49.9 % |
President Moon Jae-in made a pledge that by 2030 at least 20 % of Korea’s energy shall be generated through renewable energy sources while the capacity of renewable energy shall more than triple to 63.8 GW.
Current Wind Power Capacity
| 2010 | 2019 | |
| Installation capacity | 373 MW | 1490 MW |
| No. of complexes | 28 | 103 |
| No. of turbines | 233 | 693 |
| Rate of units made overseas | 94.1 % | 49.9 % (346 units) |