Gochang (South Korea) (AFP)

South Korea is planning massive investments in wind power to get out of its dependence on coal.

But its turn towards renewables is met with fierce opposition from fishermen, convinced that offshore wind farms will hamper their activity.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in himself supervised the signing of a massive 48 trillion won (36 billion euros) contract in February for the construction off Sinan (southwest) of what was billed as the world's largest offshore wind farm, with a maximum capacity of 8.2 gigawatts.

In addition to the goal of carbon neutrality, the center-left president intends to phase out nuclear power and this project should help propel his country into the world's top 5 producers of wind energy.

Problem: this ambition came up against the hostility of local fishermen in 2017.

"All those who live from the sea are opposed to it," explains Jang Geun-bae, one of the leaders of the protest against wind turbines.

"They will have the consequence of considerably reducing the area where you can fish."

After three years of negotiations, the two parties have still not agreed on the amount of compensation.

"But it's a government project, so we had to accept against our will," Jang said.

In total, South Korea hopes to achieve 12 gigawatt offshore wind power production by the end of the decade.

- Advantageous geography -

But almost everywhere this effort is met with local opposition.

The works of more than thirty projects yet validated by the government have still not started because of this resistance, according to the Ministry of Energy.

In 2019, a report by British experts and officials cited the issue of "local acceptance" as a "key barrier" that could prevent the South from achieving its goals.

This study consulted by AFP cited "the objections of the inhabitants and, perhaps even more, those of the fishermen who constitute a powerful lobby in South Korea".

The world's second-largest economy, the South is very poor in energy resources and its electricity depends 40% on imported coal.

In 2020, only 6% came from renewables, according to the International Energy Agency.

This makes President Moon's goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 particularly ambitious.

It is all the more so since the center-left leader wants to get out of nuclear power at the same time.

South Korea arrived very late in the field of renewable energies and is lagging far behind the leaders such as Great Britain, China and Germany.

Its peninsular geography and the length of its coastline are nevertheless advantages, and many South Korean companies have a certain expertise in the fields of offshore construction and wind power.

Aiming for the world's Top 5 is certainly "ambitious, but not unrealistic," according to Norm Waite of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

Its current wind capacity is only 100 megawatts, he observes, but the country has "the fundamentals to become a major player in offshore wind".

- "New reef" -

At present, its largest offshore wind farm is a 60 megawatt field in Gochang, north of Sinan (southwest).

Erected 10 km from the coast, the 20 turbines peak 200 meters above the water, their blades turning silently in the breeze.

The set produces enough electricity for 50,000 homes, according to their operator Korea Offshore Wind Power.

"Wind can generate a lot of energy in a limited space, which is an advantage over solar and other renewable energy sources," observes Yang In-sun, a group official.

The Gochang complex was a government priority, but it took nearly a decade for it to start producing energy in 2020, as the site was delayed for four years due to local opposition.

"Who can accept that we install turbines in a sea where we catch hundreds of fish every day?" Asks Lee Sung-tae, one of the leaders of the protest.

The complex occupies only eight square kilometers, but Mr Lee says it is depleting fish stocks and forcing fishermen to take complicated detours.

However, researchers maintain that noise and sludge carried during construction sites are temporary and that once in operation, wind turbines have no impact on fish populations.

"No scientific evidence" supports the idea that the noise of the turbines has an impact on marine life, says Kim Bum-suk, professor at Jeju National University.

"In the medium and long term, wind turbines constitute on the contrary a new artificial reef which can attract a number of sea creatures".

© 2021 AFP