Total and Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG) have partnered to develop floating offshore wind projects in South Korea. The 50-50 partnership concluded recently between the two companies is aimed to develop 5 large projects with a total capacity of more than 2 GW. These projects are planned to come up off the Eastern and Southern coasts of the country in Ulsan and South Jeolla Provinces. On-site comprehensive wind data collection for these projects has already commenced, while construction of the first project of about 500 MW capacity is planned to start by end 2023. Meanwhile, the partnership itself will become effective in the autumn of 2020 subject to regulatory approvals and other required conditions.
South Korea has a strong potential for development of offshore wind capacity along with strong government support. Moreover, the country has ambitious R&D programs and a unique set of local competencies which can help in the growth of the country’s offshore wind segment. Further, the government announced its “Green New Deal” plan in July 2019 which aims to have 20 per cent of the country’s total electricity being met by renewable energy sources by 2030. Out of this, at least 12 GW will come from offshore wind power.
Total has installed close to 9 GW of low-carbon power generation capacity worldwide out of which 5 GW is from renewable energy. Total has set a target to set up 25 GW of renewable power capacity by 2025 through continued expansion of its business in the renewable energy space.