Ørsted Incheon offshore wind project faces further area reduction

Original Korean article: 인천투데이

Ørsted's 1.4 GW Incheon offshore wind project, in waters off Ongjin County west of Deokjeok Island, faces a second mandatory reduction in project area — this time driven by a maritime safety corridor that doubles as an emergency evacuation route for residents of Baengnyeong Island near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto inter-Korean maritime boundary.

That distinction matters. The constraint is not ordinary navigation clearance. The corridor is the sea lane that vessels must use if hostilities or an emergency occur near the NLL, and Baengnyeong residents have framed the dispute as one of evacuation access rather than fishing or amenity impact. It brings the Ministry of National Defense into the permitting process alongside the maritime regulator — an escalation path that has no equivalent in Korea's southern or western offshore zones.

What the rules require

Under the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries' Maritime Traffic Safety Audit Implementation Guidelines, revised in April 2025, the line connecting a wind farm's outermost turbines must sit at least 0.5 nautical miles (926 m) from a vessel transit route. Where the farm lies to the starboard side of the route, the required distance rises to six times the length of the largest transiting vessel (about 80 m) plus 500 m plus 0.3 nautical miles (555 m).

Applying that standard, Incheon Today reports that Ørsted would have to move the project's northern boundary down by up to one nautical mile.

For international comparison, the article notes that EU guidance is stricter, setting a minimum 2 nautical miles between a wind farm's outer boundary and a transit route. Korea's 0.5 nm floor is therefore permissive by European standards — a gap worth watching, because tightening it later would affect every Korean project sited near a shipping lane.

The defence ministry's demand

Separately, in September 2024 the Ministry of National Defense objected to the sea-area occupancy permit Ørsted had sought for geotechnical survey work, stating that the area carried restrictions for naval and commercial navigation safety. It called for the survey area to be moved at least one nautical mile to both the north and the south, measured against the route coordinates in the navigation rules for the north-west islands.

A local civic group representing the five north-west border islands has since argued to regulators that the safety corridor should be treated as 2 nautical miles wide (one nautical mile either side), matching the channel widths North Korea asserts — and has asked for siting-impact analysis and disaster response manuals covering blade detachment and turbine fires.

Not yet decided

The project is currently in main-phase environmental impact assessment consultation. Asked about a further reduction, an Ørsted representative told Incheon Today that the matter "requires internal confirmation" and that the company could not give a specific answer at this stage.

This is Ørsted's second round of adjustment at the site. The project was originally scoped at 1.6 GW; after fishing communities and border-island residents objected that the array overlapped the Incheon–Baengnyeong safety corridor, Ørsted cut the project area by about 30 percent in November 2023 and moved the boundary more than one nautical mile clear of the corridor. Conditional development approval followed, subject to securing community consent.

Project profile — Ørsted's Incheon offshore wind

Ørsted, the Danish state-backed developer, holds electricity business licences for two adjacent projects west of Deokjeok Island in Ongjin County, Incheon. Together they are the largest single offshore wind cluster under development in Korea.

Why this site is regulator-dense

Three separate authorities hold effective veto points over the array geometry. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries governs the maritime traffic safety audit and separation from transit routes; the Ministry of National Defense governs proximity to the NLL and the north-west island navigation rules; and the Ministry of Environment runs the main-phase EIA, currently in consultation.

Combined with the community consent condition attached to the original licence, this gives the Incheon cluster a materially different risk profile from projects in Jeonnam or on the south coast, where naval constraints do not apply.

Sources: Incheon Today, 14 Aug 2026 · Electricity Regulatory Commission meeting records · Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Maritime Traffic Safety Audit Implementation Guidelines (revised April 2025). Depth, foundation type and export cable figures are KWI engineering estimates, not developer disclosures.

This brief is prepared for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

KWI project profile — Incheon 2 Offshore Wind

Compiled from the KWI database. Not part of the source article.

Related coverage

• Ørsted's blade collapse raises safety concerns for Incheon shipping lanes — 2026-08-19
• Incheon Offshore Wind Faces North Korea NLL Security Dilemma — 2026-08-13
• Incheon Offshore Wind Developers Form Alliance Amid City Coordination Gap — 2026-08-04
• Incheon Applies for 6 Trillion Won Public-Led Offshore Wind Farm License — 2026-07-31

Project data: KWI database — Electricity Business Licence records, EIA filings (ME2025C010), and Electricity Regulatory Commission minutes.