Korea offshore wind law, permitting and auctions

In force since 26 March 2026 with its Enforcement Decree and Enforcement Rules, the Special Act moves Korea from developer led site acquisition to a government led planned siting regime.

Planned siting. The state designates preliminary zones and then development zones, and selects developers within them by competitive bidding. Three years from promulgation, new EBLs are barred outside those zones.

One stop approval. Once an implementation plan is approved, roughly 28 statutory authorizations are deemed granted, the EBL and public waters occupancy among them.

Governance and consent. An Offshore Wind Power Committee under the Prime Minister oversees the regime. Zone designation and benefit-sharing run through a public-private consultative body in which representatives of fishers and residents hold at least half the seats.

Outside the one stop route, a project still clears authorizations one law at a time. This page sets out 16 of them across 7 stages, each under a different statute and ministry, so the sequence rather than any single permit decides how long development takes. Risk concentrates in the EBL, environmental assessment, and public waters use and navigation safety. The first offshore permit, public waters occupancy for a measurement mast, has averaged about 484 days against a 98 day statutory target.

A licence does not bring revenue. A project becomes bankable by winning the fixed price competitive auction run by the Korea Energy Agency, which carries a 20 year offtake, and certificates carry higher multipliers further offshore and in deeper water. Under the Special Act, competitive bidding within development zones now runs in parallel.