UK SHOULD WORK WITH SOUTH KOREA TO PROMOTE OFFSHORE WIND POWER AND FLOATING WIND TURBINES 

Boris Johnson and his Government want to strengthen trade relations with countries outside the European Union. Where better to start than South Korea? 

It was the first big country to sign a free trade agreement with Britain after Brexit. Its workforce is the most highly educated in the world. Its IT infrastructure is the global leader.

These factors, together with its willingness to innovate, have delivered astonishing economic growth in the last seven decades. In the 1950s South Korea was a country ravaged by war and lacking the natural resources of its more fortunate neighbours. Its GDP per capita was similar to the poorest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Korean people lifted themselves up by their own efforts and made their country one of the richest in the world, a member of the G20 club of wealthy nations. Relations with Britain have been friendly ever since South Korean and British soldiers fought side by side in the Korean civil war between 1950 and 1953.

Today the world faces an acute energy crisis. This is a good reason for Britain to work more closely with South Korea because a big part of the solution to this crisis is the expansion of renewable energy.

Even before Putin’s invasion of Ukraine forced Europe to cut its dependence on Russian oil and gas South Korea had set ambitious targets for growing its offshore wind capacity. Achieving these targets will accelerate its switch away from relying on imported fossil fuels.

Britain is a world leader in offshore wind power. Its government has used consumer funded subsidies, known as Contracts for Difference, to boost investment in the construction of wind turbines around Britain’s coastline. Experiments with floating wind turbines have started.

What could be more natural than close cooperation between South Korea and Britain to grow the offshore wind industry in Asia, Europe and worldwide? Attractive investment opportunities in the supply chain exist in both countries. 

South Korea’s innovation skills could also be deployed alongside Britain’s to develop floating wind technology. The potential global market for this is enormous as it enables countries which do not have shallow waters near their coast to develop offshore wind capacity.

I urge the British and South Korean Governments, businesses and investors to prioritise the immediate expansion of offshore and floating wind turbines. Success will bring commercial benefits to both countries and will help to address the current international energy crisis.