Offshore wind recorded it second-best year for annual installed capacity in 2023 as key policy developments set the foundations for accelerated expansion over the next decade, according to a new GWEC report.
Last year, despite the macroeconomic challenges faced by the sector in some key markets, the wind industry installed 10.8GW of new offshore wind capacity, taking the global total to 75.2GW.
New capacity increased 24% on the previous year, a growth rate the GWEC expects to see continue up to 2030, if the present increase in policy momentum continues.
In the next ten years, GWEC forecasts that 410GW of new offshore wind capacity will be installed, bringing offshore wind deployment in line with global targets to install 380GW by 2030.
The majority of that will come at the turn of the decade, with two-thirds installed between 2029 and 2033, according to the report.
This rapid expansion of deployment must be built on a growing collaboration between industry and government and the creation of streamlined and effective policy and regulatory frameworks, GWEC said.
This anticipated growth will be driven by the arrival of the next wave of offshore wind markets like Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brazil, Colombia , Ireland and Poland – where policy developments and unprecedented focus across governments, industry and civil society is setting the conditions for long-term offshore wind development at scale, it added.
The report outlines a “Global Growth Framework for Offshore Wind” for industry and governments planning to rapidly scale up development covering finance, demand and industrial offtake, supply chain development, permitting, social consensus, workforce development and grid infrastructure.
GWEC’s position is that forecast growth is at risk if this framework is not implemented.
Ben Backwell, GWEC chief executive, said: “Installing almost 11 GW of offshore wind is the leading edge of a new wave of offshore wind growth.
“Policy progress – especially across the Asia-Pacific region and the Americas – has set us on course to regularly install record-breaking capacity annually, and pass the 380GW target set up by the Global Offshore Wind Alliance.
“That means offshore wind is on course to achieve the tripling ambition set at COP28 in Dubai.
“Offshore wind is now so much more than a European, Chinese or American story.
“In the last year GWEC has seen rapid progress in new markets where the key drivers for offshore wind are now in place – from government commitments to sustainable economic growth, to increased consumer demand and industrial decarbonisation.”