South Korea's Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment is launching the competitive bidding for fixed-price contracts for offshore wind power for the second half of 2026 on Friday, 30 October.
This competitive bidding is the first since the announcement of the 'Mid-to-Long-Term Offshore Wind Bidding Roadmap' last June. Following approximately 1.8 GW of capacity aearded in the first half of the year, approximately 2.2 GW of volume has been announced for the second half.
Through this, a bidding market of 4 GW will be operated this year, reaching the level of leading global offshore wind nations, the Ministry has said.
Based on a preliminary demand survey conducted by the Korea Wind Industry Association and the Korea Energy Agency last August, the bidding volume was determined within a range that secures an effective competition rate, according to the Ministry.
The bid price ceiling was adjusted in consideration of changes in external market conditions, such as the forecast of fluctuations in domestic and international Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCoE) for offshore wind power and exchange rates.
As presented in the roadmap, 4 GW of bidding volume for 2026 was announced, significantly increasing the volume compared to previous years to enhance economies of scale and improve investment predictability. At the same time, the bid price ceiling was also adjusted compared to the first half of the year to focus on the gradual reduction of generation costs for domestic offshore wind power projects.
The total volume of competitive bidding for offshore wind power in the second half of this year is approximately 2,200 MW, with approximately 1,700 MW for fixed-type offshore wind power and approximately 500 MW for floating-type offshore wind power, announced separately.
For the fixed-type offshore wind power tenders, the volume for general tenders is approximately 1,400 MW and the volume for public-led tenders is approximately 300 MW.
In the case of the public-led bidding market, public institutions are required to participate with a certain stake or more, similar to the first half of the year, to enhance project implementation stability and public acceptance, and to encourage the use of domestic supply chains for key equipment, thereby contributing to strengthening the competitiveness of the domestic offshore wind power industry, the Ministry said.
The volume of bids for floating offshore wind power is approximately 500 MW. As floating offshore wind power is in its early stages of global deployment, the bidding market will continue to operate in the second half of the year, following the first half, to leverage Korea's manufacturing competitiveness to secure future supply chains and stably maintain the foundation for domestic offshore wind power deployment.
The bid price ceilings were partially adjusted compared to the first half of the year, taking into account the forecast fluctuations in domestic and international LCoE for offshore wind, changes in external market conditions such as exchange rates, and the bidding competition rate.
The price ceiling for fixed-type offshore wind is 168,937 won/MWh (EUR 113.2/MWh), and the price ceiling for floating-type offshore wind is 174,003 won/MWh (EUR 116.6/MWh), representing a decrease of 1.34 per cent and 0.63 per cent, respectively, compared to the prices in the first half of this year.