Goheung-gun Selected for Public-Led Offshore Wind Suitable Site Discovery Contest

Goheung-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Gong Young-min) was finally selected on the 2nd for the ‘Public-led Offshore Wind Power Suitable Site Discovery Project’ announced by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Energy Agency. This is expected to accelerate the development of an offshore wind power complex aimed at achieving a population of 100,000 in Goheung by 2030.

This project is being carried out with the goal of discovering optimal sites for offshore wind power complexes by considering environmental, economic, and acceptability factors through collaboration between the government and the county. Participants include the Korea Electric Power Research Institute, Korea Environment Institute, Korea Maritime Institute, and Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation.

A view of the Goheung-gun government office building.

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Through verification of preliminary project districts and wind resource measurement, sites for offshore wind power with a scale of over 2GW will be discovered, and a total of 3.5 billion KRW in national funds will be invested by 2026 for this purpose.

The offshore wind power industry developed by the county will shift the project promotion from private power companies to public leadership, leading the local energy industry, fostering the offshore wind power industry as a new regional growth engine, and improving the outdated industrial structure centered on agriculture and fisheries, thus being evaluated as an important industry to overcome regional crises.

In particular, by fostering renewable energy anchor companies and attracting RE100 companies within the national industrial complex, it is expected to create jobs and increase the resident population, overcoming the risk of regional extinction and playing an important role in the development of the renewable energy industry and improving the quality of life for county residents.

A county official stated, “Goheung is located at the center of the eastern sea area of Jeollanam-do, serving as a hub for the renewable energy industry on the southern coast, through which most major offshore wind power complexes and transmission networks pass,” adding, “We will do our best to maximize development benefits in cooperation with other cities and counties and meet the expectations of our residents.”

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