South Korea Discusses Its Offshore Wind Development with UK

A delegation of leading officials from South Korea visited OrbisEnergy this week, Lowestoft’s flagship hub for offshore renewable energy, to understand the UK market and to discuss opportunities for developing their own offshore wind industry.

The UK is the world’s largest market for offshore wind development. In addition, the February 2012 Ernst & Young quarterly ‘attractiveness index’ for renewable energy investment ranks the UK as the most attractive place in the world for investment in offshore wind.

That’s one of the key reasons that the Korean Wind Energy Industry Association (KWEIA) wanted to visit the UK to understand how industry and government working together has created a huge economic opportunity for developing low carbon power generation.

The delegation, made up of public officials, Professors from the Jeju National University, and the newly formed Jeju Energy Corporation, are from the South Korean Jeju province which has recently announced major investment plans for 2GW of offshore wind by 2030. This builds on the existing commitment from South Korea to develop 2.5GW of offshore wind by 2020.

Hosting the delegation at OrbisEnergy, Councillor Colin Law, Leader of Waveney District Council said: “We were delighted to host the South Korean delegation in Lowestoft which gave us an excellent  opportunity to share knowledge and information which could support Jeju’s development of offshore wind.

“This is the beginning of the relationship between our two regions which we hope will grow and lead to business
opportunities longer term. Waveney is at the forefront of the offshore wind industry and my Council is committed to maximising the potentially significant income and job opportunities it can offer our district.”

Johnathan Reynolds, Business Development at OrbisEnergy said: “This two day visit has given us the opportunity to share some key insights into developing offshore wind projects and supporting supply chain growth with our South Korean colleagues. Whilst we have different government structures and political frameworks, we have clear synergies in how we both want to develop our businesses, create jobs and grow our economies.”

Gilhoon Kim, from the Jeju National University said: “The purpose of our visit is to learn any difficulties/solutions in the process from conception to operation on the offshore wind farms in England for reflecting in the policy of offshore wind development of Jeju Province.

“Our visit to the OrbisEnergy centre has been very helpful and a good reference to the management and operation of the new Jeju Energy Corporation which will handle mainly the development of offshore wind farms.”

The delegation visited SSE Renewable’s Lowestoft-based Operations facility for the Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm, and also to the Scroby Sands Visitor’s Centre in Great Yarmouth to see two operational wind farms and talk directly with their operators.

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Offshore WIND staff, August 19, 2012; Image: OrbisEnergy