Despite the disruption caused by COVID-19, the total pipeline for global offshore wind projects has grown by 47% since January, according to research by RenewableUK.
The findings show that the total capacity of offshore wind projects which are operational, under construction, consented, in planning or in development, currently stands at 197.4 gigawatts (GW) worldwide, up from 134.7GW in mid-January.
Just over half of the pipeline is in Europe, with the UK boasting the highest capacity on 41.3GW, up 12% since January when it stood at 36.9GW.
“The UK remains the biggest market for offshore wind in the world and our capacity is set to quadruple over the course of this decade following the prime minister's landmark commitment to power every UK home with offshore wind by 2030,“ said Melanie Onn, deputy chief executive at RenewableUK.
“As well as providing clean, low-cost power, our industry will continue to revitalise coastal communities, grow the UK supply chain and export our offshore wind goods and services around the world, as our unrivalled expertise is now in huge demand globally“.
Regarding the share of the global pipeline, China has leapt from fourth place into second with a significant 80% increase from 14.5GW to 26.1GW. The USA retains third place with 10% growth, from 16.2GW to 17.8GW.
Brazil has emerged from nowhere to go straight into fourth place with 16.3GW after announcing plans for 10 offshore wind projects since the start of the year, while Germany has dropped from second to sixth place.
In terms of operational capacity, the UK still has the most in the world with 10.4GW. Germany is in second place with 7.7GW, China is third on 4.6GW, Belgium fourth on 1.8GW and Denmark fifth with 1.7GW.
“The global appetite to develop new offshore wind projects remains enormous, despite the pandemic this year,“ Onn continued.
“The UK and many other countries are counting on the rapid growth of the offshore wind sector to be a key driver in the worldwide green economic recovery.“
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