An artificial surfing lagoon to be built as part of South Korea’s new Turtle Island waterfront development will be the largest of its kind in the world when it opens in 2020.

Turtle Island is set to become Korea’s premier surfing and water activity destination, situated on land reclaimed from the ocean at Siheung in Gyeonggi province, an hour from Seoul. Developed by Daewon Plus Construction, The €2.1bn (US$2.37bn, £1.84bn) project will include a 1km-wide (3,280ft) beach, and other water-based activities such as swimming, kayaking and sailing, with marinas, hotels and convention centres being built between the lagoon and the ocean.

Spanish firm Wavegarden is to install the lagoon using its Cove technology, which it says is also currently being built in Melbourne, Australia, and Bristol, UK. The Cove lagoons have enticing turquoise waters kept clean by an innovative water treatment system, and are capable of producing up to a thousand ocean-like waves of different size and power every hour, making the lagoons suitable for everyone from children and beginners to professional surfers.

Wavegarden’s technology is also designed to recover part of the energy used in wave generation to reduce energy consumption.

Fernando Odriozola, chief commercial officer of Wavegarden, commented: “With consistent waves of different sizes and shapes, Turtle Island is going to be the new beach of Seoul and the place to surf for families, professional surfers and everyone in between.”

As well as construction projects underway in Melbourne and Bristol, Wavegarden says it has another 28 contracts signed and in various stages of development in five continents around the world.