Nakwol Offshore Wind Power Begins Commercial Operation (7 Turbines)
Nakwol Offshore Wind in Yeonggwang, South Jeolla Province, began power production two years after being selected in the fixed-price contract competitive bidding in December 2023. It is 21 months since construction began in March of last year. fig0
Nakwol Blue Heart, the project operator of Nakwol Offshore Wind, announced on the 10th that it completed the sealing of the meter at the substation on the 2nd of this month and received the “Initial Power Transaction Commencement Approval Certificate” from the Korea Power Exchange, starting commercial operation of the first unit.
The Nakwol Offshore Wind power complex is a 364.8 MW “offshore” power plant located approximately 20 km off the coast from Gyema Port in Yeonggwang County, South Jeolla Province, featuring 64 offshore wind turbines each with a capacity of 5.7 megawatts (MW). The combined capacity of the five currently operational domestic offshore wind farms (Jeonnam Offshore, Jeju Hallim, Jeju Tamla, Jeonnam Yeonggwang, and Seonamhae Demonstration) is 320.6 MW, making Nakwol larger than all of them combined. It is expected to produce 900 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity annually, equivalent to the amount consumed by the citizens of Cheonan or Jeonju over a year.
As of the end of last month, Nakwol Offshore Wind had completed the installation of seven out of 64 turbines. Nakwol Blue Heart plans to sequentially install all 64 turbines and commence commercial operation by June next year. Once fully completed next year, the total domestic offshore wind power capacity will expand to 716.8 MW, more than doubling the current capacity. fig1
This project, pursued by Myeongun Industrial Development in collaboration with Thai energy company Biggeurim Power, obtained a power generation business permit in January 2019 and completed an environmental impact assessment in December 2020. In February of last year, following its selection in the government’s fixed-price contract competitive bidding, it signed a Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) purchase agreement with Korea Southern Power.
Nakwol Blue Heart stated, “Over 100 domestic companies, including GS Entec, Taihan Cable & Solution, LS Electric, Hoban E&C, and Hyundai Engineering & Steel Industries, participated in the project, with more than 70% of the total investment allocated to domestic firms.” They added, “By reducing approximately 430,000 tons of greenhouse gases annually, we aim to contribute to expanding renewable energy and achieving carbon neutrality in South Korea.”