A record 5206MW of offshore wind capacity went into operation worldwide during 2020, compared to 5194MW in 2019, according to a new report from World Forum Offshore Wind (WFO).
The additional capacity added last year takes cumulative installed operational capacity of offshore wind to 32.5GW at the end of 2020, the report stated.
Last year, 15 new offshore wind farms went into operation in the UK, China, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands and the US, highlighted the Global Offshore Wind Report 2020.
As of today, 162 offshore wind farms are up and running around the world.
The UK remains the world’s biggest offshore wind market with 10.4GW of total installed capacity, with Germany only narrowly retaining its second place with a total of 7.7 GW of operational capacity.
China, in third place, is rapidly catching up with 7.1 GW of installed offshore wind power of which 2062MW was added in 2020, said the WFO report.
Almost 10GW of offshore wind capacity is under construction worldwide, with China and the UK leading in terms of capacity.
In China a total capacity of 4372MW is under construction, followed by the UK with a total capacity of 3705MW under construction.
The UK’s construction pipeline includes several of the world’s largest offshore wind farms, such as Moray East (950MW) and 1.4GW Hornsea 2, the report highlighted.
In Germany, the disruption in the market caused by changes to the regulatory framework for offshore wind back in 2017 is reflected by zero capacity currently under construction.
WFO managing director Gunnar Herzig said: “Seeing yet another record year of global offshore wind installation underlines the dynamic global momentum for offshore wind.”