ULSAN < invest Korea

According to Yonhap News,

(JEJU=Yonhap News) The state-run Korea East-West Power Co. (EWP) will push for using a gas field platform in the East Sea as a floating wind power plant when its operational life comes to an end to increase power generation from clean energy, its chief has said.

Park Il-jun, CEO of EWP, said the company will expand investment in wind and solar power to raise the ratio of renewable energy from the current 4 percent to 25 by 2030 and reduce fine dust from its coal plants by 70 percent.

The energy company, based in Ulsan, 410 kilometers southeast of Seoul, and which generates most of its power from coal plants, set the goal in accordance with the government's energy transformation policy.

"We have started discussions with the Ulsan city government to utilize a gas field platform in East Sea to turn it into a floating wind power plant complex," Park said in a meeting with reporters at the Ulsan headquarters on Wednesday.

The state-run Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) has been operating a gas and oil field in East Sea since 2004, producing a daily average of 11 million cubic feet of natural gas and 185 barrels of crude oil. The KNOC is developing a second gas field in a nearby sea to prepare for depletion of the current gas field.

Park said it plans to establish a 200 MW wind power plant after the EWP reaches an agreement with the KNOC and the provincial government.

"There will be fewer complaints related to fishing rights and noise than (establishing wind turbines) in coastal areas," Park said. "The KNOC will also benefit from saving on demolition costs and recycling the facility."

ejkim@yna.co.kr

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Source Text

Source: Yonhap News (June 28, 2018)