Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG) and TotalEnergies have secured exclusive development rights for the first phase of a 1500MW floating offshore wind farm located off the coast of Ulsan, South Korea.
It is the first floating offshore wind project in South Korea to awarded a so-called electric business licence by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s Electricity Regulatory Commission.
With a maximum installed capacity of 1.5GW developed across three phases, it’s one of the largest floating offshore wind developments in the world.
The EBL grants the partners exclusive development rights to progress the project’s first phase of 504MW.
Detailed environmental impact assessments will now commence on phase one, and construction is expected to start in 2024.
Once operational, the full 1.5GW project is expected to produce enough electricity to power the equivalent of over 1.5 million households and reduce emissions by approximately 2.3 million tCO2e per annum.
Through the project, GIG and TotalEnergies aim to help deliver the Korean government’s “Green New Deal”, revitalise local economies and support high-skilled employment opportunities.
The partners are committed to utilising the local supply chain whenever possible, and are actively collaborating with shipbuilders and heavy industry companies in Ulsan to help revive Korea’s offshore industries.
GIG Korea managing director Woojin Choi said: “With its fantastic infrastructure and offshore experience, Ulsan is the perfect location for floating offshore wind development.
“That’s why GIG and TotalEnergies are joining hands with Korea’s world-class shipbuilding and offshore industries to deliver this market-leading project.
“By bringing together specialist local know-how with GIG and TotalEnergie’s global expertise, the Ulsan project will place Korea at the forefront of the global floating offshore wind market.”
TotalEnergies country chair for Korea Shin Jungwon added: “The award of an EBL is a significant milestone in the development of GIG and TotalEnergies’ Ulsan floating offshore wind farm.
“We recently completed our wind resource measurement campaign, and having now been awarded exclusive development rights, we’re looking forward to starting detailed environmental impact and engineering assessments.”
The EBL award marks an important milestone for the Ulsan project, and for GIG’s growing global offshore wind development portfolio, which currently stands at 13GW.
GIG and TotalEnergies recently submitted a bid into Scotland’s latest offshore wind leasing round, ScotWind, and secured rights to develop the 1.5GW Outer Dowsing Offshore Wind project off the east coast of England.