KGCCI forum stresses offshore wind power for energy transition

Participants, including David Jones, seventh from left, head of offshore development and country manager at RWE Renewables Korea, Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry President and CEO Martin Henkelmann, eighth from left, and German Ambassador to Korea Georg Schmidt, 10th from left, pose at the 2024 Korean-German Business Forum on Offshore Wind Energy in Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry

A business forum organized by the Embassy of Germany in Seoul and Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KGCCI) has highlighted the significance of offshore wind power and why it should be deployed more extensively in the waters off Korea.

At the 2024 Korean-German Business Forum on Offshore Wind Energy held in Seoul, Friday, company representatives and officials of the governments of Korea and Germany shared the energy’s rising capacity in Germany’s overall energy output and how the German authorities are controlling power generation to guarantee a stable supply of electricity. The forum showed that Korea's offshore wind industry, on the other hand, is still in the burgeoning phase and has a long way to go.

At the forum partnered by RWE Renewables, BayWa r.e., Skyborn and Siemens Energy, experts said that Germany and Korea can cooperate on ushering in offshore wind power to Korea. KGCCI President and CEO Martin Henkelmann said in an opening speech that leveraging the two countries’ energy ties can bolster the green, affordable energy in Korea.

“We hope to see the two countries’ joint results in offshore wind power production in Korea to the next level,” Henkelmann said.

German Ambassador to Korea Georg Schmidt emphasized offshore wind power’s unique strength in sustainability unaffected by human interference which was evinced by recent geopolitical tensions.

“Germany experienced its gas supply from Russia cut off last year and we had to restructure ourselves to replenish the 15 percent of our entire gas supply which is from Russia,” the ambassador said. “People can turn off gas and oil. But nobody can switch off wind. It demonstrates offshore wind’s energy sovereignty which cannot be cut off by an external factor.”

Offshore wind power in Germany has generated 9.1 gigawatts (GW) this year and aims at 70 GW by 2045, according to Norman Ruhnke, policy officer at the unit for offshore wind energy under the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate. He said that one of the strengths in Germany's energy market is how the government has been reshuffling local systems to uplink the power developers to the national power grid and supply their energy to end users.

Humber Gateway offshore wind farm, built by RWE Renewables eight kilometers off the East Yorkshire coast of the United Kingdom, generates enough electricity for up to 199,000 homes. Courtesy of RWE Renewables

“The government’s offshore wind policy increases long-term planning security for investment and introduced new tender design in bidding for private developers,” Ruhnke said. “Government-central control over the industry includes pre-selecting wind farm sites, centralized planning model and publicly financing grid connection. It minimizes risks and allows ambitious long-term capacity targets.”

The forum shed light on the biggest challenges to Korea, such as an absence of centralized government control.

David Jones, head of offshore development and country manager at RWE Renewables Korea, said that the challenges in Korea are rather national problems which cannot be solved by a single company. He said that with the Korean government given more control, it could centralize heavy coordination in selecting sites, guaranteeing grid connection and informing different stakeholders most efficiently.

“It’ll accelerate projects to move forward, give the government confidence with high probability of successful projects and keep private developers confident as well,” Jones said.

Yoo Byeong-cheol, leader of the energy industry division at Incheon Metropolitan City, highlighted that the biggest problem in Korea is that the central government hasn’t released any roadmap for the energy market. Without such basic guidance for both local governments and private developers, bringing offshore wind power to the national grid remains far-fetched, he added.

“Residents in local communities aren’t sure whether they should trust private developers. Companies aren’t sure how far they need to persuade local residents, either. This is all because there is no roadmap from the central government,” Yoo said.

“The special act on offshore wind power must pass the National Assembly as soon as possible so that policies can roll out and frameworks can be set up for all stakeholders to have some legal reference points. Sadly, under the central government’s current goal, we need to bring up offshore wind power output by 10 times within six years. It's very unlikely. Right now, we don’t even have enough ships to bury underwater cables for power transmission.”