Macquarie eyes 1 GW floating offshore wind project in South Korea

The development supports South Korea’s bid for Asia’s offshore wind market.

Macquarie Group has signed a memorandum of understanding with local partner Gyeongbuk Floating Offshore Wind to develop a 1GW floating offshore wind project in South Korea, a Macquarie spokeswoman confirmed.

The planned development is in line with industry expectations of South Korea and Japan emerging as the next big thing in Asian offshore markets scene after China and Japan.

Macquarie’s MOU comes on the heels of an earlier 378MW project with local developer Swancor as well as half of a consortium presently developing the 128MW Formosa 1 pilot array that is scheduled to go online by 2019.

Earlier this year, Swedish floating wind power pioneer Hexicon closed a deal with local service provider Coens Co. forming a joint venture that would develop offshore wind farms in Southeast Asia.

The move comes as the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy earlier raised incentives for offshore wind park operators and slashed subsidies on biomass producers. Under the new regulation, subsidies on solid recovered fuel (produced by shredding and dehydrating biodegradable waste) will be reduced since this energy source is considered less environmentally friendly than solar and wind power.