A push is gaining steam to repair and reuse onshore wind farms past their service life or to dismantle aging wind power facilities and install the latest equipment through "repowering." Repowering onshore wind avoids the need to secure new sites, helping prevent forest destruction. Still, questions remain over whether to extend generation permits held by existing onshore wind operators or give opportunities to new entrants.
According to the government and the Korea Wind Energy Association on the 26th, the Gangwon Wind and Daegwallyeong 1 onshore wind farms are undergoing repowering. Gangwon Wind is an onshore wind farm that installed a total of 49 turbines from Dec. 2005 to Sept. 2006. The Daegwallyeong 1 onshore wind farm was completed in July 2017, so it is relatively not that old. Still, the strategy is to maximize generation efficiency by installing the latest turbines through repowering.
In addition, Yeongyang Wind (61.5 megawatts/MW), Yeongdeok Wind (39.6 MW), Windmill Wind (7.5 MW), and Maebongsan Wind (7.1 MW) are considering or pursuing repowering. Yeongyang Wind is a complex in Changsuri, Yeongdeok County, North Gyeongsang Province, where 41 onshore wind turbines rated at 1,500 kilowatts (kW) were installed in Dec. 2008.
Yeongdeok Wind installed 24 onshore wind turbines from Dec. 2004 to Oct. 2006, so the equipment is relatively old. Maebongsan Wind also installed onshore wind turbines in May and Oct. 2006 and again in May 2012, and is considering repowering.
Onshore wind operators receive power generation permits in 20-year units, reflecting the view that the lifespan of key components such as onshore wind turbines and blades is 20 years. However, installation age of 20 years does not automatically make a project eligible for repowering. If installing state-of-the-art equipment is judged to boost generation and yield profitability, operators consider repowering.
If generation is not expected to increase significantly after repowering, operators may choose not to proceed even when the generation permit expires. Instead, repowering can be carried out by replacing only components such as blades (wings) or the nacelle (generator housing) to improve efficiency, even before 20 years have passed since installation.
The government says it supports onshore wind repowering to expand renewable energy. The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment included policies to spur repowering in its "strategy to boost onshore wind power," released on the 3rd.
First, the government will allow repowering without additional wind resource measurement if it proceeds without changes to the onshore wind farm. Until now, when the operating period of an existing onshore wind project ended and an application was filed for a repowering project permit, operators had to conduct wind measurement as if applying for a new generation permit. The plan is to shorten repowering project development timelines through this change.
The government will also simplify environmental impact assessment procedures. Because power generation operators submit 10 years of post-completion environmental monitoring results for onshore wind farms to the government, it concluded they do not need to undergo the same environmental impact assessment required for new projects.
However, disagreements may arise among operators regarding generation permits. An official at the climate ministry said, "From the perspective of protecting the natural environment and overall social expense, it is appropriate to pursue repowering that allows reuse of onshore wind facilities and sites," but added, "There are differing views on whether existing operators who have made money using wind resources over the 20 years of their generation permits should be able to receive another generation permit when they repower, or whether opportunities should go to new entrants, and further discussion is needed."