Global floating offshore wind capacity has grown by 13% over the past year to 277MW, according to RenewableUK’s latest EnergyPulse Insights Floating Offshore Wind report.
The trade body said 16 projects are now fully operational across seven countries, up from 245MW a year ago, with total installed capacity set to increase nearly tenfold to 2.5GW by 2030.
Norway leads with 100MW across three projects, followed by the UK with 78MW and China with 40MW. A further 93MW of capacity is under construction globally, including two projects in France and two in China.
The report found 221GW of floating wind at all stages of development worldwide across 324 projects. By 2030, China and the UK are expected to dominate the sector with 45% and 41% of global capacity respectively, while markets such as France, Norway and Japan are set to accelerate in the 2030s.
Europe accounts for 60% of global floating capacity – about 134GW – with the UK representing 14% of that total, or 31GW across 39 projects. Of this, 84% is located in Scottish waters.
Five UK projects totalling 458MW are eligible to compete in the upcoming Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 7, though RenewableUK said the current budget may only secure two or three new developments.
RenewableUK head of floating and deepwater wind Luke Clark said: “The continued growth of floating wind globally highlights the UK’s opportunity to become a world leader in this technology. Strategic investment in early projects is vital to prime the supply chain and build confidence in the sector.
“More ambition in this year’s clean energy auction round would see more test and demonstration projects coming through to unlock supply chain development, cut costs, and create jobs.
“Floating wind has the potential to be one of Britain’s biggest industrial success stories of this century, employing 97,000 people by 2050, with many of the jobs based in Scottish and Welsh ports, contributing £47 billion to our economy by building and supplying projects here as well as exporting our cutting-edge technology worldwide.”
The report’s publication comes ahead of RenewableUK’s two-day Floating Offshore Wind conference and exhibition in Aberdeen.