A year of "phenomenal growth" for the offshore wind market

In 2022, the planned installed capacity of floating offshore wind projects in both offshore wind and its sub-sectors has doubled, which is a milestone year for offshore wind.

Here are just a few of the key milestones in the offshore wind industry.

1. The planned capacity of offshore wind power in the United States has jumped to 77GW by the third quarter

In recent years, the U.S. has become a fast-growing market for offshore wind. Construction of the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the U.S. has officially begun on the East Coast, and states increased their long-term goals by 58% in the third quarter of 2022, setting a new record for quarterly growth. The Biden administration has unveiled plans to install 15GW of floating offshore wind capacity in the United States by 2025, and California has set a goal of 25GW of floating offshore wind capacity by 2045. Led by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), more and more regions, not only on the East Coast but also on the West Coast, are opening up to offshore wind, including eight wind power zones recently offshore the mid-Atlantic coast of the U.S. and new areas in the Gulf of Mexico, with more than 20GW of offshore wind capacity expected in the plan.

2. Global planned capacity for floating offshore wind has doubled in the past 12 months

There has long been a search for a turning point for the "next generation" of floating offshore wind projects, and 2022 is considered to be the year when floating offshore wind projects really take off. The total planned capacity of floating offshore wind has more than doubled to 185GW from 91GW a year ago. During this period, the number of projects worldwide increased from 130 to 230, and the UK temporarily maintained its global lead, with a much larger planned installed capacity than any other country. In fact, UK floating scheme capacity has increased from 23 GW a year ago to more than 33GW, from 29 to 51 projects, which are being developed in the North Sea – Scottish and UK waters – as well as in the Celtic Sea and the North Atlantic. Globally, there are currently 96MW of floating offshore wind projects under construction, with a further 288MW of project development approved or in the pre-construction stage. 31GW of projects are planned or have been leased and 153GW is in early development or preparing to enter the leasing process.

3. New markets, new developers, new suppliers: offshore wind power growth "soars"

Few industries can afford to say "soaring", but offshore wind is bucking the trend, providing developers with more than 135GW of new capacity last year, which is nearly 2.5 times the current global market of 55GW of offshore wind. Westwood said the rapid growth was driven by the expansion of new markets, with more than 20GW of leases up for grabs in previously unlicensed countries such as Canada, Colombia and India. At the same time, countries from Brazil to Sweden, Finland, Australia and New Zealand have expressed interest in putting offshore wind at the heart of their energy markets.

4. The Netherlands has set huge long-term targets for offshore wind capacity

In September 2022, the Dutch government set out a long-term growth plan for offshore wind energy as well as a new long-term target for capacity growth. The Dutch government has said it wants to have 50GW of offshore wind capacity by 2040 and plans to reach 70GW by 2050. In the Netherlands, as in many European countries, the need for energy security has been driven by national clean energy targets and the need for energy security to drive more and more offshore wind in the future. In addition to offshore power generation, the Dutch government plans to produce green hydrogen on a large scale in the North Sea to enable the industrial transition from natural gas, while establishing interconnection with other North Sea countries will also contribute to the security of energy supply in the Netherlands.

5. "Phenomenal growth": The total planned capacity of global offshore wind power has doubled in 12 months

In June 2022, RenewableUK confirmed that global offshore wind planning projects had almost doubled in the last 12 months, from 429GW a year ago to 846GW.

China has the largest offshore wind project planned at 98GW, followed by the UK in second place with 91GW (up from 55GW a year ago) and the US in third place with 80GW of planned capacity. Germany ranked fourth with 57GW. Other countries with offshore wind programs include Brazil, Sweden, Ireland, Vietnam and South Korea. Europe has a total planned capacity of 350GW, of which 26GW is fully operational and 496GW is planned for countries outside Europe.

6. China continues to consolidate its leading position in the offshore wind power market

By the beginning of 2023, a total of 114 offshore wind farms have been connected to the grid at full capacity, covering nearly 5,700 offshore wind turbines, with a cumulative installed capacity of 28.6 GW. This is more than double the size of the UK, the world's second-largest offshore wind market (13.7 GW). In 2022, China commissioned 9 offshore wind farms, covering 507 offshore wind turbines, with a total of 3.8 GW of new installed capacity, accounting for 47% of the world's total new installed capacity. Among them, 6 wind farms with a total of 2.4 GW have achieved the goal of "starting construction within the year and connecting to the grid at full capacity within the year". China's offshore wind fleet continues to expand, accounting for 23% of the global fleet, of which the number of wind power installation vessels, crane vessels and wind power operation and maintenance vessels has increased significantly since the beginning of 2021.

As Dan McGrail, CEO of RenewableUK, points out, "Countries around the world are urgently recognising the need to accelerate the transition to clean energy, not only to combat climate change, but also to provide safe, low-cost and home-grown electricity to those hit hard by soaring international gas prices." Add to that the creation of millions of skilled jobs and the attraction of billions of dollars in private investment, and it's easy to see why offshore wind is here to blossom around the world. ”