Sian Crampsie
The global offshore wind industry installed a record 6.1 GW of new capacity in 2019, according to new data from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).
GWEC has reported that offshore wind installations grew by 35.5 per cent year-on-year in 2019, and said that growth will continue to accelerate over the next five years.
Eight markets reported new offshore wind energy installations in 2019, led by China with installations of 2395 MW, GWEC said. Europe overall accounted for 59 per cent of new installations, while Asia-Pacific accounted for the remaining 41 per cent.
The UK installed 1764 MW, and Germany 1111 MW, GWEC said.
Ben Backwell, CEO at GWEC commented: “In 2019, we continued to see the strong growth trend of offshore wind, which now makes up 10 per cent of total wind energy installations. While mature markets in Europe continue to account for the majority of these installations, Asia Pacific is now increasingly contributing to this growth, with China leading the way as the global offshore wind leader in new capacity.
“It is also exciting to see floating wind capacity being installed in 2019, as once this technology reaches industrial scale, it will open up whole new markets and opportunities for offshore wind.”
GWEC added that its preliminary forecasts indicate that an additional 50 GW of new offshore wind capacity could be added by 2024 globally, allowing total installed offshore wind capacity could reach nearly 80 GW globally over the next five years, an increase of almost 172 per cent from today’s capacity.
Alastair Dutton, Chair of GWEC’s Global Offshore Wind Task Force said: “While 2019 offshore wind installations were driven by established market leaders, over the next few years we will see more and more countries establish their offshore industry, expanding into new markets in Europe, the US and Asia Pacific.
“As these new markets are established, this will further drive the exponential growth of the global offshore wind industry. We need to focus now on getting the right policy frameworks set up in these emerging markets to facilitate this growth and pave the way for a wider global build-out of capacity post-2030.”
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