The pan-government task force, led by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, held its first meeting on Wednesday, bringing together various ministries to address major bottlenecks hampering projects, including complex permitting processes, insufficient infrastructure, and financing challenges.
The initiative comes as President Lee Jae Myung's administration pushes to build a "West Coast Energy Highway" by 2030, a project first proposed by Lee during his campaign. The initial plan aims to deliver 14 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity from the country's southwest coast, a scaled-down target from a previously envisioned 20 gigawatts.
The project is estimated to cost around 100 trillion won ($72 billion) in public and private investment.
"All experts are saying that now is the last golden time to activate domestic offshore wind," Vice Trade Minister Lee Ho-hyeon said during the meeting. "To avoid missing this opportunity, all relevant ministries will work as one team."
South Korea is surrounded by water on three sides, and offshore wind is seen as a crucial pathway to achieving the country's carbon neutrality goals and generating significant economic ripple effects in related industries, such as shipbuilding and steel.
reporter
Kim Dong-young
davekim0807@ajupress.com
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