Sian Crampsie
New analysis by Wood Mackenzie shows that more than 680 GW of new wind power capacity will come online globally over the next ten years.
The company has revised upwards the outlook for the global wind sector in its latest Global Wind Power Market Outlook Update. Much of the growth in the sector is being driven by offshore wind in Europe and onshore wind in Scandinavia, it said.
“With 16 GW of offshore wind power capacity installed in Europe by the end of 2018 and more than 47 GW expected to come online in the region from 2018 to 2027, the European offshore sector continues to be a focal point of growth for the wind power industry,” said Luke Lewandowski, director of Americas power & renewables research at Wood Mackenzie.
The European offshore wind experience has also encouraged governments in other regions to support offshore wind, Lewandowski added. Japan and South Korea are in particular expected to see strong growth over the next ten years.
In Scandinavia, increasingly competitive cost levels and an expectation for higher power prices have triggered a flurry of project investment announcements and power offtake commitments. Sweden, Norway and Finland will account for 15 per cent of new onshore capacity installed in Europe over the next 10 years, Wood Mackenzie says.
In the USA, the outlook for the onshore sector is stable, while pioneering states in the US northeast will bring installed offshore capacity to 10 GW by the end of 2027.