General – South Korea
South Korea’s Anma offshore wind farm has encountered a non-technical obstacle.
Its site overlaps with a maritime area used by the Agency for Defence Development for military weapons testing.
This conflict has prevented the project from obtaining the public waters occupation and use permit, a pre-construction approval required from the Ministry of National Defense.
The Anma offshore wind farm, with a capacity of 532 MW and located 24 miles west of the southwestern coastline of the Korean Peninsula, was a successful bid in the 2024 fixed-price wind power auction.
Valued at $3.5 billion, it was on track for completion in 2029 after several key supply contracts were signed in 2025. The project was expected to use 38 wind turbines of 14 MW capacity from Siemens Gamesa.
Due to the delays in military approval, some suppliers have suspended or terminated their contracts.
SK Oceanplant suspended its $273 million contract for 38 jacket foundations at the client’s request. LS Cable & System terminated its $110 million contract for onshore and offshore export cables, which had a period from July 2025 to May 1, 2028.
CS Wind has also withdrawn from the project. There are reports that Equis, the Singapore-based investment firm that holds a 78 percent stake in Anma, is offering to sell its share to Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.
The remaining stake is held by several South Korean firms, including the Korea Development Bank, CS Wind, and Hoban Industries. Due to approval uncertainties, industry analysts expect a local company to acquire the Equis stake.
These delays coincide with a broader trend of foreign investors leaving South Korea’s offshore wind market. Last month, the British firm Corio Generation completed its exit from Korea, disbanding its local unit after withdrawing from joint projects in Busan and Ulsan.
Earlier this year, Germany’s RWE quit its two projects: the 495 MW West Sea Offshore wind farm near Taean County and the 510 MW Neulsaeumui offshore wind farm in South Jeolla Province. The complex regulatory process has been blamed for these exits.
The government enacted the Offshore Wind Power Special Act last month, which integrates permitting and licensing into a one-stop-shop system. Previously, developers needed 28 licenses; now only approval from the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy is required. It remains to be seen if this will fully restore momentum for South Korea’s offshore wind energy efforts.
