South Korea Plans to Build A 500 Turbine Offshore Wind Farm by 2019

South Korea announced plans to build a 2.5-gigawatt (GW) offshore wind farm near on its southwestern coast.

The US$8.2 billion, 500 turbine project will be funded in part by the South Korean government, who will provide US$26 million, but will mostly be financed by private investors.

This plan builds off an the South-East Asian nation's announcement last month to build an experimental offshore wind farm.  South Korea, who receives 97 percent of its energy from overseas, continues to develop renewable technology, taking significant steps towards energy independence.

This project, slated to be completed by 2019, is inline the plan South Korea recently rolled out committing $36 billion to develop renewable energy to "be in the world's top five players in the sector" within five years.

South Korea's Knowledge Economy Ministry said, "Considering the small size of our land, offshore wind farms, with less environmental damage and fewer potential complaints from residents, are far more promising sources of energy than onshore wind farms."