BlackRock unit 'shut out of $7.5bn flagship Korean wind project': reports

A subsidiary of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has failed to persuade South Korea authorities to approve a planned offshore wind project due, among other things, to a reported documentary failure in the provision of financial guarantees, according to media reports in Seoul.

The project, estimated to cost around 10trn won ($7.5bn), outlined plans to build five wind farms off the coast of Sinan, South Jeolla province, amounting to 2GW of capacity.

Applications for what would have been South Korea's largest wind power complex, were submitted by Kredo Holdings, a Korean renewables company acquired by a BlackRock fund in 2021.

Several South Korean media reports also stated that officials are worried about the adequacy of transmission infrastructure needed to cope with offshore power generation on such a scale in this region.

The electricity committee of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) rejected all five Sinan offshore wind farm construction proposals on these grounds, it was reported.

Some reports also referred to the need for “an agreement with local people, such as those engaged in the fishing industry,” citing an official.

The South Korean government has outlined plans to invest 8trn won by 2036 to construct an ultrahigh-voltage direct current transmission network along the west coast, northwards to Seul.

Orsted is working on environmental impact assessments, site investigations, and preparations for participating in Korea’s annual fixed-price wind auction and said it expects the project to be completed in the early 2030s.

At the time of the Kredo acqusition in 2021, BlackRock Renewable Power managing director Charlie Reid said: “We are delighted to make a material commitment to the energy transition in South Korea.

“We believe that offshore wind will play a vital role in the nation’s road to decarbonisation and that Kredo Holdings is ideally placed to partner with us.”