Areas of cooperation

Offshore wind and energy efficiency

South Korea’s energy transition

Korea aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030 compared to 2018-levels and become carbon neutral by 2050. The ambitious political goal of constructing 12 gigawatt offshore wind by 2030 is central to reaching the emissions reduction target – and the potential for offshore wind is huge with Korea’s more than 2400 km of coastline.

In order to reach the 12 gigawatt offshore wind target, the government will focus on strengthening regulatory framework conditions for developing offshore wind and increasing acceptance from local residents and fishermen.

Cooperation between Danish and Korean authorities 

The cooperation between the Danish Energy Agency and Korea Energy Agency focusses on exchanging knowhow, lessons learnt and experiences within offshore wind and energy efficiency. On offshore wind, the focus is particularly on the removal of regulatory barriers for expansion and development of the offshore wind industry in Korea, through de-risking the process by creating stable and transparent long-term policy, consistent and thorough maritime spatial planning, high public acceptance, etc.

The program is also working towards including green hydrogen/Power-to-X where the Korean experience may serve as inspiration for the development of a green hydrogen sector in Denmark, and in particular the Danish Energy Islands. Korea is a pioneer within hydrogen and in 2019 presented an ambitious ‘Hydrogen Economy Roadmap’ towards 2040. 

Denmark and Korea have implemented similar regulations and support schemes for promoting energy efficiency in industry. With the Danish Energy Agency’s partners at the Korea Energy Agency, a dialogue on the working principles of voluntary agreement schemes and mandatory energy audits is conducted. Through this dialogue and relying on each other’s lessons learnt, the future policies and revisions of existing regulations can be improved. The Danish-Korean cooperation benefits and supports the green transition in both countries.