South Korea launches tender for 1.25 GW of offshore wind capacity

Analysts at Clarksons Securities said the auction maintains last year’s ceiling price of 176,565 KRW/MWh (€113/MWh), with a focus on fixed-bottom projects. For the first time, 500 MW will be allocated to public-led bidding.

As previously highlighted by OWJ, MOTIE will use a two-stage evaluation process and use incentives such as preferential pricing for public-led projects and commitments to make use of the domestic supply chain. A focus on innovation is expected to see projects that integrate government-supported R&D equipment secure a price bonus.

In the two-stage evaluation process, the first stage of the process will pay greater attention to non-price criteria including maintenance, security and public works, increasing the score allotted to such criteria to 50 from its current 40. This step will select 120-150% of submitted bid quantity. 

The second stage includes price competition based on an evaluation of price attributes. The bidder with the highest score combined from rounds one and two will be selected as the winner. The government has also proposed a target ratio on public sector participation to strengthen the role of the public sector. 

The latest tender is a further signal of a strong commitment to the expansion of renewable energy in the country, as is a commitment to launch tenders twice a year in future.

The Korean government is planning to launch tenders for 7.00-8.00 GW of offshore wind capacity in three to four tender rounds between H2 2024 and H1 2026. In 2024, an Offshore Wind Power Competitive Bidding Roadmap was announced by MOTIE that is part of the South Korean government’s broader strategy to expand renewable energy. 

The overall aim of the roadmap is to help promote large-scale investment in offshore wind, job creation and to establish related infrastructure such as ports and vessels by presenting potential investors with what he described as a stable framework.

In 2024, South Korea awarded 1.9o GW of offshore wind across four projects.