South Korea will launch the first in a series of offshore wind tenders this October and (at least) two more until the first half of 2026, according to an Offshore Wind Power Competitive Bidding Roadmap the country’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) unveiled on 8 August.
The tenders from 2025, initially planned to be held in the fourth quarter of each year, are now moved to the second quarter of each year. A notice of an additional tender will be released in the fourth quarter of each year if needed. Under the new roadmap, the government plans to auction a total of 7-8 GW of offshore wind capacity from the second half of 2024 to the first half of 2026.
The tender will be organised as a two-stage process, with the first stage assessing non-price criteria and the second stage evaluating price attributes. The bidder(s) with the highest total score will be selected. MOTIE also says the government intends to increase the score allotted for non-price criteria from the current 40 to 50 and incorporate aspects such as maintenance, security, and public works as additional evaluation criteria.
In addition to fixed-bottom offshore wind projects, the government will also introduce a bid market for floating wind farms within the same timeframe. MOTIE is also planning a public-led bid market to be launched in the first half of 2025, aimed at fostering public-sector participation in the offshore wind industry.
The new roadmap was unveiled by Trade, Industry and Energy Vice Minister Namho Choe on 8 August in Seoul, at a conference MOTIE held with offshore wind power companies.
The new bidding process is expected to accelerate progress by addressing permitting delays and other regulatory challenges which, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), led to only 150 MW of South Korea’s 14.3 GW offshore wind target to be delivered so far.
The country, however, has vast offshore wind resources and has attracted high interest from offshore wind developers.
Several offshore wind projects that are already in development in South Korea have reached major milestones by receiving Electricity Business Licenses (EBLs) and completing the environmental impact assessment (EIA) consultation with the Ministry of Environment and MOTIE.
These include the 1.5 GW Haewoori floating wind project off the coast of Ulsan, owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and developed by Copenhagen Offshore Partners (COP), RWE’s 495 MW Seohae offshore wind farm, Equinor’s 800 MW Firefly/Bandibuli floating wind farm, and the 1.5 GW Gray Whale floating offshore wind project developed jointly by TotalEnergies, Corio Generation and SK Ecoplant, among others.