Climate Ministry Shifts Focus to Onshore Wind Power... "Expanding to 6 GW by 2030"

Strategy to Revitalize Onshore Wind Power Unveiled
Permitting Procedures Improved, Construction Period Shortened by 4 Years
Expansion to 6 GW by 2030
Deployment of Over 300 Domestic Turbines
Expansion of Wind Income Village Projects

Panoramic view of Taebaek Gadeoksan Wind Power Plant.

Plans are underway to accelerate onshore wind power development by having the public sector take the lead in site selection and by streamlining the permitting process, similar to offshore wind power. Through this initiative, the government aims to expand the current onshore wind power capacity from 2GW to 6GW by 2030.

On the morning of December 3, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment held the first meeting of the "All-Government Task Force for Accelerating Onshore Wind Power Deployment" at the Yeouido Power Base Center in Seoul, chaired by Minister Kim Seonghwan, and unveiled its "Onshore Wind Power Activation Strategy."

Until now, the government has focused on the deployment of offshore wind power, which allows for large-scale development. However, given the need to first establish infrastructure such as hinterland ports and installation vessels, it is difficult to achieve significant results within the current administration’s term. In addition, there are many issues that require coordination with other ministries, such as the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

As a result, the Ministry has decided to prioritize onshore wind power, which can be expanded more rapidly in the short term.

Currently, the cumulative installed capacity of onshore wind power in Korea stands at 2GW, with annual expansion at around 0.1GW. Due to complex permitting and regulations, it takes about 10 years from installing wind measurement equipment to project completion. To build an onshore wind farm, developers must navigate a complicated permitting process involving 22 regulations across 8 ministries.

The Ministry plans to form a task force with the Ministry of National Defense, Korea Forest Service, Korea Meteorological Administration, Gangwon Province, North Gyeongsang Province, South Jeolla Province, Korea Energy Agency, Korea Electric Power Corporation, and the Environmental Research Institute to resolve permitting bottlenecks and shorten construction periods.

Like Offshore Wind Power... Public Sector to Lead Onshore Wind Power Site Planning

For the first step in the permitting process, the installation of wind measurement equipment, the Ministry is considering replacing this requirement with data from the Korea Meteorological Administration. In the environmental impact assessment, which has been a major obstacle, the procedures for utilizing first-grade ecological and natural areas will be improved, and environmental impact assessments will be prioritized during development permit applications.

When granting temporary use permits for mountain areas, the standards for using forest roads and permitting use of national forests will also be rationalized. A Ministry official stated, "By simplifying the permitting process, we expect to reduce the development period by up to four years, from 10 years to 6 years."

The Ministry, together with the Korea Forest Service and local governments, will introduce a public-led site planning system to identify public sites with excellent wind resources in national forests and support the permitting process.

The idea of the public sector leading site selection is stipulated in the Special Act on Offshore Wind Power. This demonstrates the government's strong commitment to accelerating onshore wind power deployment. The government announced that it will conduct a pilot project of about 100MW in 2027 and then prepare plans for further expansion.

Through the introduction of planned sites and other measures, the government aims to reduce the current levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for onshore wind power from 180 KRW per kWh to below 150 KRW per kWh by 2030.

Public-Led Onshore Wind Power Bidding... "Deployment of 300 Domestic Onshore Turbines"

The government will announce a "Mid- to Long-Term Onshore Wind Power Bidding Roadmap" in the first half of next year, specifying the bidding capacity for onshore wind power through 2030. The roadmap will include a public-led bidding system aiming to deploy more than 300 domestically produced turbines by 2030.

For turbines, which account for about 60% of installation costs, the government will support research and development of models with a capacity of 6MW or more and increase the localization rate of key components such as main bearings and power converters. While there were 10 domestic onshore turbine manufacturers in 2010, only Unison remains today.

To enhance local acceptance, the government will expand the "Wind Income Village" model, where local residents directly participate in wind power projects and use the proceeds for village welfare and public projects. If local cooperatives participate in public bidding, public shares will be recognized and preferential prices will be reflected.

Additionally, the Ministry will upgrade its Wind Power Deployment Team to the Onshore Wind Power Division to strengthen project management. The government will also consider including onshore wind power in the government guarantee program, which currently only supports offshore wind, and expanding the guarantee coverage for onshore wind power to up to 70% of project financing (PF) loan amounts.

Currently, there are 205 onshore wind power projects with generation business permits, totaling 10.2GW. A comprehensive survey by the Ministry found that 98 projects (5.1GW) were delayed due to permitting issues, while 46 projects (1.7GW) either did not respond or indicated they were considering suspending the project.

Minister Kim Seonghwan stated, "Expanding onshore wind power is a key task for the energy transition, and it is important to strengthen our industrial and cost competitiveness in the process. As an all-government task force, we will pool all our capabilities together."

The government plans to announce a "Plan for Expanding Offshore Wind Power Infrastructure and Deployment" in cooperation with relevant ministries within this year.

Meanwhile, on the afternoon of December 3, Lee Wonjoo, Director General for Energy Transition Policy at the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, will attend the completion ceremony for the Pungbaek Wind Power project in Gunwi County, Daegu, to celebrate its completion. The Pungbaek Onshore Wind Power project is a 75MW power generation project and marks the first wind power power purchase agreement (PPA) signed by a state-owned power generation company.