MOKPO, SHINAN — After a 40-minute boat ride from Saengnaem Port in Shinan County, South Jeolla Province, towering white steel structures emerged beyond the horizon. From the sea surface to the tip of the blades, they stand 227 meters tall — roughly the height of Namsan Seoul Tower, which rises about 239 meters. Ten wind turbines loomed over the blue water. In the early autumn sea breeze, blades measuring 97 meters long and weighing 44 tons each cut through the air about six times a minute, or roughly 5.7 rotations. The force generated by that rotation and the wind has turned the open sea into a single vast power plant. This is the site of Jeonnam Offshore Wind Complex I, built across 18.5 square kilometers of water about 9 kilometers off the coast of Jaeundo Island in Shinan.
Visited on the afternoon of the 10th, Jeonnam Offshore Wind Complex I stands as a milestone for private-led offshore wind power in South Korea. It was developed as a joint venture between SK Innovation E&S (096770.KS) and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) of Denmark, the world's largest offshore wind fund manager, holding 51% and 49% stakes respectively. With total project costs of 870 billion won ($625 million), 10 turbines of 9.6 megawatts each were installed for a combined capacity of 96 megawatts, and commercial operation began in May last year. The site produces about 300 million kilowatt-hours of clean electricity a year, enough to supply roughly 90,000 households. Apart from the turbines, supplied by Siemens Gamesa, the project sourced major components and installation equipment from domestic firms — towers from CS Wind, substructures from Hyundai Steel Industries and subsea cables from LS Cable & System — a step that is credited with strengthening South Korea's offshore wind supply chain.
With Complex I having proven both commercially and technically viable, follow-up projects for Complexes II and III are gaining momentum. A far larger project totaling 800 megawatts — 399 megawatts each for Complexes II and III — will soon get underway in waters near the first site. Combined with Complex I, the area will host a clean energy production base of about 900 megawatts, comparable to a single nuclear reactor, which typically generates around 1,000 megawatts. It also means South Korea's offshore wind industry is achieving genuine economies of scale and entering a phase of large-scale commercialization.
Complexes II and III will each install 26 large turbines rated at 15.35 megawatts, for a total of 52 units. Both the capacity per turbine and the number of units are more than double those of Complex I. Costs are also on a far greater scale, with at least 3.6 trillion won each and more than 7 trillion won in total. After clearing an environmental impact assessment by the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment last month, the roadmap has brightened: the projects plan to take part in a competitive auction for fixed-price wind power contracts in the second half of this year, break ground in 2028 and begin commercial operation in 2031.
External conditions are also turning favorable. If large power-intensive facilities such as advanced semiconductor clusters are brought to the Gwangju and South Jeolla region, offshore wind would serve as a key source of green electricity. Kim Jin-chul, executive vice president of SK Innovation E&S and chief executive of Jeonnam Offshore Wind, said the current problem with the power grid stems from the need to send electricity all the way to Seoul, where demand is concentrated, even though much of the generation takes place in the provinces. If large chip plants are actually built in South Jeolla and Gwangju, the executive said, electricity produced locally could be used to meet local demand rather than being transmitted to Seoul.
The combination of solar and offshore wind power also deserves attention. Solar output is concentrated during daylight hours when sunshine is abundant, while offshore wind generates more electricity at night as winds pick up. Because semiconductor fabrication plants run around the clock, solar during the day and wind at night can offset each other's intermittency.
Such expectations are also behind the government's move to mobilize policy financing, including the National Growth Fund, to support large-scale offshore wind funding. Kim said the company is in talks with the government to secure low-interest loans for Complexes II and III on terms equal to or better than those for the Shinan Ui offshore wind project, one of the first investments made by the National Growth Fund. With financing conditions for offshore wind projects having deteriorated amid recent increases in interest rates and prices, government support such as the National Growth Fund has become all the more essential, the executive stressed.
Securing local acceptance has been another foundation for the project's smooth progress. Complex I established a model that shares part of its generation revenue with local residents through a resident participation program. Payments known as "wind income" began going to Shinan County and Jaeundo residents in October last year, and cumulative profit distributions reached 5.5 billion won through the first half of this year.
