Kolon Global Holds Completion Ceremony for Taebaek Gadeoksan Wind Power Plant, Korea's First Community-Participatory Wind Farm

Taebaek Gadeoksan Wind Power Plant Panorama (Photo by Kolon Global)

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Tae-min] Kolon Global announced that it will hold a completion ceremony for the ‘Taebaek Gadeoksan Wind Power Complex’ located in the Wondong area of Taebaek City on the 24th.

The Taebaek Gadeoksan Wind Power Complex is a large-scale wind power complex consisting of twelve 3.6 MW wind turbines, producing 108,988 MWh of electricity annually. This amount of power can supply approximately 37,000 households, which is twice the number of households in the Taebaek area, contributing to the stabilization of the power grid in the Gangwon-do region.

This power plant is the first resident-participation type wind power complex in Korea, where local residents directly participated in the project. The residents of Wondong Village established a village enterprise, raised 1.7 billion KRW in funds from Taebaek citizens, and secured a 3.3 billion KRW loan from national policy funds, investing a total of 5 billion KRW in the ‘Taebaek Gadeoksan Wind Power’ corporation. It is expected to generate an annual investment return of 270 million KRW for the next 20 years. By having local residents directly invest, Gadeoksan Wind Power successfully began commercial operation without any complaints.

It is also the first wind power project in Korea with local government investment participation. Gangwon-do, together with Korea East-West Power, is listed as a joint major shareholder, and Taebaek City, the licensing authority, along with the Gangwon-do regional company ‘Dongseong’, also participate as shareholders.

Moreover, it is the first large-scale 345 kV substation constructed by the private sector in Korea. While there have been cases of 154 kV substations built by private companies, this is the first time Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) has permitted a private entity to build a 345 kV substation.

Kolon Global, besides directly participating in Gadeoksan Wind Power phases 1 and 2 and Taebaek Hasami Wind Power, proposed a plan to connect the power grid with surrounding wind power operators and constructed the substation for joint use purposes.

Choi Jae-seo, Director of Kolon Global’s New Renewable Energy Business Team, stated, “We viewed the wind power project not as a traditional construction business but as a power generation business, discovering and advancing the project ahead of others. We plan to become a leading company in the renewable energy sector by early commercialization of offshore wind power and establishing a green hydrogen production base using electricity generated from wind power.”

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