More than 2500MW of new offshore wind capacity was built around the world in the first half of 2020, despite Covid-19 lockdown measures, according to figures released by World Forum Offshore Wind (WFO).
WFO’s Global Offshore Wind Report HY1 2020 found global installed offshore wind capacity had almost reached 30GW by the end of June.
During the first half of this year 10 new offshore wind farms went into operation, in the UK, China, Germany, Portugal, Belgium and the US.
More than 8GW of offshore wind capacity under is construction worldwide, with 57% of this in China.
By country, the report found the UK remains the world’s biggest offshore wind market with more than 10GW of installed capacity of which 714MW was added during the first half o2020.
Germany retained second place with a total of 7.7GW, but only 203MW of new capacity was added during the first six months of 2020.
In third place, China is “growing rapidly” with 1.4GW of newly installed capacity during the first half of 2020 increasing the total installed capacity to 6.4GW.
Belgium overtook Denmark to sit in fourth place, with a total of 1776MW installed by the end of June.
The report forecasts China’s has a total capacity of 4.6GW under construction, which will position it to overtake Germany by the year end. Belgium will continue to add another 487MW of offshore wind capacity by the end of 2020, taking it across the 2GW threshold.
Germany’s “disruptive regulatory changes are reflected by zero construction activities in during the half of 2020”, the report said.
Worldwide, 157 offshore wind farms are in operation, with 105 located in Europe, 50 in Asia and two in US.