President Moon Jae-in pledged last Friday to expand South Korea’s offshore wind power capacity hundredfold by 2030 as a key engine for the nation’s transition to renewable energy and environmentally-friendly growth.

Moon visited a wind power plant and a turbine research center on the southwestern coast in his first field inspection since unveiling a ‘New Deal’ policy to recover from the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus crisis.

“The government’s goal is clear and is to become one of the world’s top five offshore wind energy powerhouses by 2030, taking advantage of our geographical advantage of being surrounded by water on three sides,” Moon said at the wind farm in Buan, about 280 kilometers southwest of Seoul.

The government aims to expand the nation’s offshore wind power capacity to 12 gigawatts by 2030 from the current 124 megawatts, he noted.

During his visit, central and local governments, businesses and local residents signed a memorandum of understanding to develop the plant located in two counties of Buan and Gochang, North Jeolla Province.

The plant operating since July 2019 is the largest among the nation’s three offshore wind farms. Two others are located in South Jeolla Province and Jeju Island.

(Yonhap)