South Korea is in the middle of an energy transition, and Equinor wants to play a central role. The nation’s plans for floating offshore wind could become essential for the world’s utilization of offshore wind resources.
A change is taking place in South Korea. The country’s climate targets are ambitious – with an aim for net-zero emissions in 2050 – and it plans to replace much of its imported fossil energy with self-produced power.
Offshore wind power will be crucial in this transition, and South Korea has many of the prerequisites to be at the forefront of offshore wind development. But this won’t be a walk in the park.
On parts of Korea’s continental shelf, the water suddenly gets very deep – similar to the North Sea. This means that the most mature solution for developing offshore wind – so-called fixed offshore wind – is not an option along large parts of the nation’s coast.
Therefore, the wind turbines must float rather than stand on the seabed. This is the case for around 80 percent of the world’s offshore wind resources.