Europe’s offshore wind pipeline has reached 411GW across 386 projects but infrastructure bottlenecks threaten targets, according to a report by the Energy Industries Council.
The study found 84% of projects are still in planning or feasibility, with only five of Europe’s 80 specialist installation vessels capable of handling 14–15MW turbines.
Port upgrades take six to 10 years to complete, clashing with project schedules.
Europe currently has 37.8GW operating across 150 farms comprising 7178 turbines.
The UK leads with 15.6GW in operation, followed by Germany with 9GW and the Netherlands at 5.5GW.
Floating wind now accounts for 37% of the pipeline, particularly in the Mediterranean and southern Europe.
Germany faces pressure despite a 31.1GW development pipeline, with negative bidding seen as raising costs and slowing delivery.
France has advanced floating wind through 2024 auctions, while Norway awarded a CfD at €99.4/MW for the Sorlige Nordsjo II project.
The report said Europe must align financial investment decisions with port capacity and auctions to hit 2030 targets.
EIC market intelligence manager Sharanya Kumaramurthy said: “Europe has scale in the pipeline, but delivery hinges on ports, vessels, auctions and faster investment decisions. Where those align, capacity arrives. Where they don’t, targets slip.”
The report warned Chinese OEMs are outpacing Europe, with 82GW of annual manufacturing capacity compared with 20GW, and called for robust auction design to avoid repeating Europe’s solar experience.
EIC global head of external affairs Rebecca Groundwater said: “Policy must lock in a predictable run of work and enable supply-chain finance. Use non-price criteria well, accelerate port upgrades, and keep capital flowing through EIB and national tools.”