REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Under the new Ministry’s action plan of “2030 Ocean Energy Development Plan” for developing and disseminating the ocean energy systems, a strategic plan was established in the field of tidal and wave energy development. This plan is divided into four steps, including (1) expansion of R&D in ocean energy and establishment of open sea test sites, (2) construction of a large-scale ocean energy farm, (3) entering the global market and expanding domestic supply, and (4) the establishment of the ocean energy certification system and the supporting policy. The steps for commercialization for tidal and wave energy technologies are summarized in the following two figures.
 

Commercialization steps for wave energy technologies (left). Commercialization steps for tidal energy technologies (right).

 

 

 

The renewable portfolio standard (RPS) was established in 2012 to enforce utility companies with the capacity of over 500 MW to provide an obligatory portion of the total electricity production with renewable energy based on the governmental policy, “Acts on the Development, Utilization and Supply Promotion of Renewable Energy”. The market incentive plan, known as tradable Renewable Energy Certificate (REC), supplements the RPS policy. The value of REC is currently given as 2.0 for tidal current, 1.0 for tidal barrage with embankment and 2.0 for tidal barrage without embankment, whereas the value of REC for the wave and ocean thermal energy is not to be determined. Recently the value of REC for the offshore wind has been increased from 2.0 to 2.0 – 3.5 according to the distance from coastal line to promote the offshore wind industry. However, the values of RECs for tidal energy were not increased.

 

 

MOF provides public funding for ocean energy R&D projects including demonstration projects, and USD13.3 million was invested for the development of ocean energy systems in 2018. The annual budget for ocean energy R&D projects is planned to be USD16.2 million in 2019. Two new projects will be initiated to develop (1) 1 MW TEC and (2) TEC for remote islands with ESS will in early 2019.