The global wind industry saw a 16% increase in offshore capacity in 2023, making it the second best year in its history, despite challenging macroeconomic conditions, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).
Last year, the industry connected 11 gigawatts (GW) of offshore capacity, a 24% increase from the previous year, resulting in a total worldwide capacity of 75.2 GW by the end of 2023, the GEWC says in its latest annual report.
China dominated for the sixth consecutive year, installing 6.3 GW in 2023.
Europe experienced a record year, installing 3.8 GW, notably in the Netherlands and the UK. This has helped it maintain its lead in the emerging floating wind technology, the report highlighted.
At the end of 2023, Asia and Europe had an operating capacity of 41 GW and 34 GW respectively, constituting most of the global offshore wind capacity.
Immediate obstacles, such as inflation and an increase in material costs, have led GWEC to reduce its installation forecasts for 2024-28 by 10% compared with last year’s predictions.
However, governments and developers remain committed to developing offshore wind, and medium-term market forecasts remain strongly optimistic, noted Feng Zhao, GWEC’s senior analyst.
The organisation expect over 410 GW of new capacity to be built between 2024 and 2033. However, it anticipates that the commercialisation of floating wind farms, as opposed to seabed-based turbines, is unlikely before the end of this decade, with about 8.5 GW expected by 2030.
