South Korea to Build Massive Offshore Wind Farm

The South Korean government will help fund construction of a massive offshore wind farm that proponents say would generate about 2,500 megawatts of electricity and give the Asian nation a foothold in the emerging renewable energy industry. The 9.2 trillion won project ($8.2 billion), which proponents hope to complete by 2019, would be built in the waters off the southwestern coast. Major South Korean companies — such as Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering — will reportedly build the 500 turbines. The government will coordinate the project and provide about 29 billion won. In South Korea, Asia’s fourth-biggest oil importer, officials see the initiative as a step toward reducing the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels. “Considering the small size of our land, offshore wind farms”¦ are far more promising sources of energy than onshore wind farms,” the Knowledge Economy Ministry said in a statement.