Last year set a new record for offshore wind installations with 5.2GW of capacity entering into operations globally, according to a new report by World Forum Offshore Wind (WFO).
The 2019 figure marks a 24% growth on 2018 and means 27.2GW of offshore wind was installed worldwide at the end of last year.
Some 16 new wind farms entered operations last year across China, the UK, Denmark, Germany, Belgium and Taiwan.
The UK retains its crown as the world’s biggest market, with 9.7GW of all installed capacity. Germany follows with 7.5GW, but China is hot on the both countries’ heels thanks to a rapidly growing industry which swelled to reach 4.9GW of installed capacity by the end of the year.
China currently has a further 3.7GW of projects under construction.
The report said that disruption in the German offshore market caused by regulatory framework changes was reflected by its fairly low total of 220MW currently under construction.
Floating offshore wind meanwhile continues to make significant headway, largely thanks to the announcement of two large-scale projects in South Korea which took the global pipeline of project’s to 1GW by year-end.
“WFO’s new global offshore wind figures clearly illustrate two major trends: Firstly, China’s rapid growth will make it the world’s largest offshore wind market during the 2020s. Secondly, floating offshore wind is gaining serious traction,” WFO managing director Gunnar Herzig said.
“While the last decade was its demonstration phase, the 2020s will bring the commercial breakthrough for floating offshore wind.”