Five years, reckoned up
A cluster zone is a sea area that a local government identifies, secures community acceptance for, and then asks the central government to designate. The government created it in 2021 to replace the model in which developers claimed sites by installing met masts.
Seven zones were conditionally designated together on 15 and 16 March 2026, and Taean followed, also conditionally, on 24 March. Those seven include the expansion of Sinan, which had been designated on its own in April 2025; accepting the expansion made the whole of Sinan conditional. That makes ten zones and 14,437 MW, or 57.7 percent of the 25 GW deployment target for 2035.
The Taean designation is also the last under the province-led model. When the Offshore Wind Special Act takes effect on 26 March, the government takes over: it identifies preliminary zones and designates generation districts under the planned siting regime.
| Date | Newly designated | Cumulative | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 2021 | 0.4 GW | 0.4 GW | First designation, Jeonbuk southwest pilot |
| February 2025 | 1.0 GW | 1.4 GW | Jeonbuk southwest diffusion zone 1 |
| April 2025 | 3.2 GW | 4.6 GW | Jeonnam Sinan, first designation |
| 15-16 March 2026 | 8.4 GW | 13.0 GW | Seven conditional designations, including the Sinan expansion |
| 24 March 2026 | 1.4 GW | 14.4 GW | Taean, the last under the province-led model |
Note. The ten zones designated up to 26 March 2026. The 8.4 GW added in March 2026 includes the expansion of the Sinan cluster zone. Source=KWI cluster zone status report, Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment designation notices
