The Electricity Business Licence (EBL) licence was granted after a review by the Electricity Regulatory Commission under the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE).

With the EBL secured, Hanbando Offshore Wind will now launch an Environmental Impact Assessment and other key permits, conduct site investigations and initiate the main engineering studies.

The EBL grants the project exclusive development rights over the sea space and reserves interconnection capacity.

The Hanbando Offshore Wind project is located 120km from the coast of Incheon city.

Once operational, it will generate enough electricity to power a million households annually.

Through the project, Ocean Winds aims to strengthen its contribution to the South Korean government's renewable energy deployment target outlined in the Korea’s 11th Electricity Supply and Demand Plan of achieving 125.9GW by 2038.

Additionally, the company plans to contribute to the goal of Incheon Metropolitan City, which aims to develop 6.2GW of offshore wind power capacity by 2030.

Ocean Winds’ Country Manager for South Korea Guzman Figar said: “We are seeing substantial progress for offshore wind in South Korea in the last weeks, with the publication of the 11th Energy Basic Plan which increases the long-term renewable energy targets for the country, and with the approval of the Special Act on Offshore Wind.

“At OW, we believe that our Hanbando project, which connects directly to the Seoul-Incheon metropolitan area, one of the largest load centres in the world, will play a key role in supporting South Korea achieve these objectives.”