Construction of Korea's Largest Wind Power Complex in Uljin Wildfire-Affected Area

1 Trillion Won Investment by 2027

Gyeongbuk Province Signs Agreement with Public Institutions

On the 14th at 4 p.m., Gyeongbuk Province will sign a business agreement for the ‘Public-led Regional Win-win Wind Power Complex Development’ with Uljin County, Gyeongbuk Development Corporation, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, Korea East-West Power, and Korea Electric Power Technology at the Uljin County Office’s main conference room. The agreement centers on creating the largest domestic wind power complex worth 1 trillion KRW in the wildfire-affected area.

To heal the pain of local residents caused by the Uljin wildfire that occurred in March last year and to help overcome the damage early, Gyeongbuk Province, Uljin County, Gyeongbuk Development Corporation, and leading domestic energy public institutions have united with one purpose to cooperate for the rapid reconstruction of Uljin’s economy through the expansion of renewable energy.

Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office

According to the agreement, Gyeongbuk Province and Uljin County will provide administrative support such as discovering project sites, establishing cooperative systems, formulating regional win-win development policies, and enhancing resident acceptance. Gyeongbuk Development Corporation will secure public interest and manage the entire project.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, Korea East-West Power, and Korea Electric Power Technology will cooperate to ensure the successful promotion of the project through wind power complex development, construction, operation, and the purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates (REC).

Gyeongbuk Province announced the Uljin Regional Forest Transformation Project in June last year, and as part of this, it conceived the creation of a wind power complex where local governments, public institutions, and the local community coexist to promote an eco-friendly energy-based economic and industrial transformation.

For rapid project promotion, a preliminary feasibility study including economic analysis based on basic wind resource data was completed last year targeting the wildfire-affected areas.

With an installation capacity of about 94 turbines at 4.3MW each, the total capacity will be 404MW, and it is planned to be developed into the largest domestic wind power complex with a total project cost of 1 trillion KRW by 2027.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report (February 2022), “Due to the impact of climate change, wildfires will occur more frequently and with greater intensity,” and “the number of occurrences is expected to increase by 50% by 2100.”

This project will be promoted as a resident-participatory renewable energy cluster, with the policy of returning development profits to the local community. It is expected to greatly contribute to local residents and the development of the Uljin area through profit sharing from power generation and local support projects while the power plant is constructed and operated.

Additionally, by developing tourism products linked to the wind power complex, a future revenue structure will be created to foster forest regeneration.

Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, stated, “We plan to establish a resident participation profit-sharing model for renewable energy power projects, shifting from a private-led business structure to a Gyeongbuk-style public-led regional win-win development complex,” and added, “We will open an era of energy transformation led by Gyeongbuk through the preemption of future energy industries such as Small Modular Reactors (SMR), offshore wind power, and national complexes for nuclear hydrogen.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.