Globally 9433MW of offshore wind capacity went into operation in 2022, according to a new World Forum Offshore Wind report.
Global offshore wind growth in 2022 was again mainly driven by China which installed 6.8GW of new offshore wind capacity in 2022.
The Global Offshore Wind Report 2022 also found that the world’s installed offshore wind capacity reached 57.6GW by the end of 2022.
Overall, 42 new offshore wind farms went into operation worldwide during 2022 of which 29 were installed in China, five in Vietnam, two in Japan, and one each in the UK, South Korea, Italy, France, Spain and Germany.
China expanded its position as the world’s largest offshore wind market by far with 25.6GW of installed capacity, more than the UK (13.6GW), Germany (8GW) and the Netherlands (3GW) combined.
Around 44% 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, according to the report.
The Chinese offshore wind sector continues to grow with a total capacity of 3688MW under construction at the end of 2022.
The UK is in second place with a total capacity of 2790MW under construction, closely followed by Taiwan (2505MW) and the Netherlands (2259MW).
France and Germany follow in fifth and sixth place with 993MW and 257MW under construction, respectively.
World Forum Offshore Wind managing director Gunnar Herzig said: “It is excellent to see that important new offshore wind markets such as France and Japan have successfully installed their first commercial-scale offshore wind farms.
“We will see many more countries from around the world join the offshore wind industry over the next few years.”