Globally 6759MW of offshore wind capacity went into operation during the first six months of 2022 compared to 1627MW during HY1 2021, according to World Forum Offshore Wind.
Global Offshore Wind Report HY1 2022 found that this growth was mainly driven by China which installed 5.1GW of new offshore wind capacity in HY1 2022.
Global installed offshore wind capacity reached 54.9GW by the end of June 2022.
Overall, 33 new offshore wind farms went into operation worldwide during the first half of 2022 of which 25 were installed in China, 5 in Vietnam, 1 in the UK, 1 in South Korea, and 1 in Italy.
China expanded its position as the world’s largest offshore wind market by far with 24.9GW of installed capacity, more than the UK (13.6GW),Germany (7.7GW) and the Netherlands (3GW) combined.
This means 45% of the world’s total offshore wind capacity is now installed in China.
Looking at offshore wind farms under construction, China again leads the way.
The Chinese offshore wind sector continues to grow with a total capacity of 3195MW currently under construction.
Taiwan is in second place with a total capacity of 2505MW under construction, closely followed by the Netherlands (2259MW).
The UK and France follow in fourth and fifth place with 1590MW and 1473MW under construction, respectively.
After two years without any offshore wind construction activities Germany began offshore construction works for two projects with a combined capacity of 599MW.