SEOUL, KOREA - To commemorate the third Global Wind Day, on June 20ththe Korea Wind Energy Industry Association (KWEIA) held the “Offshore Wind Energy Development Seminar” at Ramada Seoul Hotel in Samsung-dong.
The Wind Energy Development Seminar, designed to facilitate offshore wind farm projects in conjunction with the South Korean government and industry, was attended by officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), Korea Power Exchange (KPX), Korea Electrical Safety Corporation (KESCO), Korea South East Power Co. (KOSEP), Korea Southern Power Co. (KOSPOS), Juju Energy Corporation, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering co. (DSME), Mokpo National University, Wind Power Journal as well as many others. The attendees discussed obstacles to domestic onshore wind energy development, the level of progress in inter-ministerial consultations, and difficulties in inter-ministerial coordination. The participants also actively contemplated desirable future directions for offshore wind power development, which has been suggested as an alternative to stalling onshore wind farm projects.
The Wind Energy Development Seminar, designed to facilitate offshore wind farm projects in conjunction with the South Korean government and industry, was attended by officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), Korea Power Exchange (KPX), Korea Electrical Safety Corporation (KESCO), Korea South East Power Co. (KOSEP), Korea Southern Power Co. (KOSPOS), Juju Energy Corporation, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering co. (DSME), Mokpo National University, Wind Power Journal as well as many others. The attendees discussed obstacles to domestic onshore wind energy development, the level of progress in inter-ministerial consultations, and difficulties in inter-ministerial coordination. The participants also actively contemplated desirable future directions for offshore wind power development, which has been suggested as an alternative to stalling onshore wind farm projects.
Recently, controversies have been reignited by news reports of the Ministry of Environment (ME)’s refusal to give the go-ahead for the construction of onshore wind farms on all of the 14 proposed construction sites based on the results of its preliminary field studies. This has put the ME on a collision course with the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE), thereby stalling the proposed wind farm projects and even sending some of them back to the drawing board. The news reports claim that damages arising from project cancellations and delays would amount to KRW 2.9 billion in terms of megawatts.
Wary of such controversies, Ko In-seok, Chairman of Electric Power Journal (EPJ), said in his opening address that the South Korean wind power industry has come far in evolving from onshore wind farms to offshore wind power development. He added that both the MOTIE and the ME and the industry hope to move forward with offshore wind farm projects through government-industry collaboration.
Delivering a motivational speech, Na Dong-chae, head of the smart grid business unit of the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) said, “We expect wind power generation to make a breakthrough in this energy-poor nation, as the domestic power industry has been grappling with tricky issues such as rising complaints about power transmission lines and problems with power supplies. KEPCO has been advocating for wind farm projects in the West and South Seas and doubling its efforts to develop domestic wind turbines on the back of domestically-developed heavy equipment and technologies.”
Na Dong-chae was followed by Lee Rim-taig, Chairman of the Korea Wind Energy Industry Association (KWEIA), who said in his welcoming speech, “Though the domestic wind power industry was created over a decade ago, it is still in its infancy and there have been difficulties faced in moving forward with onshore wind farm projects. The UK has been at the forefront of the industry because the UK has become the world’s first nation to raise the facility capacity of offshore wind power development to 3GW, and aims to increase the capacity to 40GW by 2020. If the South Korean shipbuilding industry builds the world’s largest wind turbines by tapping its excellent technologies, despite being a latecomer to the wind power industry, South Korea can spearhead developing global wind power development to new heights.”
Underlining the importance of technologies, as well as PR activities supported by the media and people from all walks of life, Chairman Lee convincingly stated that offshore wind power development is capable of entrenching itself as one of the nation’s mainstay industries. This will assist in propping up the South Korean government’s “creative economy” policy and of generating high value-addedness such as job creation for younger demographic who are having difficulty finding employment.
After a round of speeches, an award ceremony was held to honor those who made great contributions to the promotion and development of the domestic wind energy industry. This year’s awards went to Jeon Se-bong of Hyundai Heavy Industries and professor Heo Jong-chul at Jeju National University.
