Original Korean article: ESG Economy
English brief by Korea Wind Intelligence, koreawindintel.com
Analysis shows that even if the government secures six offshore wind turbine installation vessels (WTIV) by 2030, achieving an annual installation capacity of 4 gigawatts will be difficult unless installation ports and projects ready for construction start are prepared on schedule. Experts point out that coordinating the timing of offshore wind projects, ports, and vessels matters more than the scale of ship procurement for reaching the deployment target.
The climate and energy think tank Next released an issue paper on September 9 titled "Appropriateness of Korea's WTIV Procurement Plan: Utilization Analysis Reflecting Construction Start Delays and Installation Port Conditions." A WTIV is a specialized vessel that lifts wind turbine towers, nacelles, and blades at sea and installs them on substructures.
According to Next, even when offshore wind projects begin construction five years after receiving an Electricity Business License, cumulative completion by 2035 falls short of the government's 25 gigawatt target. If construction start is delayed by an additional three years, the period when vessels remain idle increases roughly sevenfold due to lack of projects to install, and the charter income lost by ship owners is estimated to reach up to 1.258 trillion won.
