A partnership document will be signed in London by Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho and RoK’s Minister for Trade, Industry and Energy, Bang Moon Kyu tomorrow (22nd November). The new partnership will promote UK-Korea business collaboration, addressing barriers to trade and encouraging mutual development of each other’s energy sectors.
The two countries will also double down on commitments made under the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, to work together to phase out of unabated coal power from energy systems to achieve net zero by 2050.
The partnership comes alongside South Korean businesses injecting more than £10 billion of new investment into the UK, backing renewable energy and infrastructure projects across the country, and supporting more than a thousand highly skilled jobs across the renewables supply chain.
“The UK and the Republic of Korea already have a strong relationship on energy security and tackling climate change” said Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho. “This will help us make the green transition, while supporting the injection of more than £10 billion into the UK economy from South Korean businesses and the thousand skilled jobs that come with that.”
The partnership will see both countries commiting to sharing information and lessons learned on offshore wind to support UK and RoK’s ambitions, collaborating on barriers to deployment and exploring commercial opportunities through the annual Offshore Wind Policy Dialogue. It will also explore shared priorities for hydrogen collaboration, building on engagement through existing forums, and reinforcement of existing cooperation on grids and infrastructure between Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), Ofgem and The National Grid to enhance existing technical, policy, R&D and commercial exchange.
The clean energy partnership will elevate existing areas of bilateral cooperation on energy between the two countries, such as the previously agreed UK-RoK Offshore Wind Memorandum of Understanding to accelerate offshore wind deployment.
These agreements will advance the Republic of Korea’s transition to clean energy while creating high-value jobs in the UK’s green supply chain.
Already, RoK has a target of 14.3 GW of offshore wind by 2030 – with UK companies winning a significant number of RoK offshore wind engineering contracts.
Additionally, there are a number of investment commitments from UK and RoK companies, helping to accelerate offshore wind development:
RoK’s SeAH Wind Ltd is making a £650 million investment to build a new factory and manufacture offshore wind monopiles in Teesside, creating up to 750 jobs by 2030.
UK offshore wind developer Corio Generation, with a portfolio exceeding 30GW and a total value of approximately £146 billion across 10 countries, is expanding its offshore wind presence, particularly in the UK and Republic of Korea.
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