South Korea Unveils 10-Year Roadmap for Offshore Wind Power Expansion

The South Korean government has released its first 10-year bidding roadmap for the offshore wind power market. The plan aims to auction a total of 55 gigawatts (GW) by 2035, with annual bidding volumes exceeding 4GW to enhance market predictability and encourage private investment and supply chain development.

In the first half of this year, the bidding competition exceeded a record 2-to-1 ratio, raising expectations for increased investment.

On June 30, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment announced the 'Long-Term Bidding Implementation Plan (Roadmap)' during a meeting with the offshore wind industry at the Korea Electric Power Corporation Art Center in Seoul. This is the first time the government has outlined annual bidding volumes over a decade.

According to the roadmap, the government plans to auction a total of 55GW from 2026 to 2035. From this year until 2030, it will announce bidding volumes totaling 28GW, with plans to continue annual auctions of over 4GW thereafter. The goal is to achieve 10.5GW of projects under construction by 2030 and a cumulative capacity of 25GW by 2035.

Given that offshore wind projects require lengthy permitting, financing, and construction processes, industry stakeholders have consistently called for the release of long-term bidding plans.

The government anticipates that presenting a long-term bidding strategy will stimulate investments not only from project developers but also in the supply chain, including turbines, substructures, cables, ports, and installation vessels.

The bidding system will also undergo gradual changes. The existing competitive bidding process will remain in place until 2033, while a 'two-track' system will be introduced in 2029 for competitive bidding in designated development zones under the Offshore Wind Special Act. This approach aims to minimize market shocks while transitioning the system to focus on planned sites.

The results of the first half of 2026 bidding confirmed strong market participation. A total of 3,656 megawatts (MW) across nine projects were bid on, with five projects totaling 1,786MW selected. The competition ratio reached 2-to-1, the first time it has exceeded double since the introduction of the competitive bidding system in 2022.

In terms of project types, floating offshore wind projects saw three bids with a competition ratio of 3.75-to-1, the highest recorded, while fixed-bottom projects had a ratio of 1.6-to-1.

Notably, fixed-bottom offshore wind projects selected 1,254MW in the first half of the year, surpassing last year's total selection of 689MW. The bidding for floating offshore wind projects, which was halted last year due to insufficient demand, has resumed, with a 532MW project selected.

The selected projects have proposed plans to utilize domestic supply chains for substructures, power cables, and installation and construction. The government plans to strengthen post-implementation checks to ensure that domestic production, technology transfer, and supply chain utilization plans are executed.

Additionally, projects utilizing 15MW turbines have submitted plans for domestic production and technology transfer, laying the groundwork for expanding the domestic supply chain.

Lee Ho-hyun, the Deputy Minister of Climate, stated, "By presenting long-term bidding volumes, we expect to enhance predictability and investment stability for project developers, financial institutions, and supply chain companies. We will continue to strengthen the competitiveness of the offshore wind industry based on stable bidding and economies of scale."