Ocean Winds awarded development rights on gigawatt-scale Korean offshore project

Ocean Winds, a joint venture between energy giants Engie and EDP Renewables, has secured a key permit for a 1.1GW offshore wind project it is developing in South Korea.

Ocean Winds announced today it has been granted an Electricity Business Licence (EBL) after a review by local authorities for its Hanbando Offshore Wind Project.

With the EBL secured, the Madrid-based developer said it will now launch the environmental impact assessment, site investigations and key engineering studies.

The EBL grants exclusive development rights over the sea space and reserves interconnection capacity, said Ocean Winds, which was launched in 2019 as a joint venture between Iberian developer EDP Renewables and French utility Engie.

“We are seeing substantial progress for offshore wind in South Korea in the last weeks,” said Ocean Wind's country manager for South Korea, Guzman Figar, citing its recent approval of the Special Act on Offshore Wind.

South Korea’s National Assembly last month approved the Special Act – versions of which have been debated country for the last seven years – offering the energy-starved nation a path to accelerating its planned build-out of renewable energy.

At Ocean Winds, Figar said his team believes that the Hanbando project, which connects directly to the Seoul – Incheon metropolitan area, “will play a key role” in supporting South Korea in its energy objectives.

South Korea is targeting the installation of 14.3GW of offshore wind by the end of the decade and 40.7 GW by 2038.