China has remained in the top spot for the second year in a row for new offshore wind installations, leading the way for the best year the renewable technology has had in the past decade, with more growth coming in both emerging and new markets, according to a report from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).

With 6.1 gigawatts of new capacity added, 2019 was the best year in history for the global offshore wind industry, bringing total global cumulative installations to 29.1GW.

GWEC said in its latest report that China took the number one spot for a second year in a row for new installations, installing a record 2.4GW, followed by the UK at 1.8GW and Germany at 1.1GW.

Alastair Dutton, the chair of the Global Offshore Wind Task Force at GWEC, said: “From being 1% of global wind installations by capacity in 2009, offshore wind has grown to over 10% in 2019.

“Measured in investment terms that figure is much greater. Offshore wind is now a mature industry but is only just beginning its expansion in earnest around the world,” he said.

The industry has continued its expansion despite the Covid-19 pandemic, according to GWEC, which said the sector could instead be a “major contributor” to post-Covid-19 economic recovery.

“Offshore wind has been less impacted by the pandemic compared to other energy sectors, Gwec Market Intelligence expects that thanks to continued growth 900,000 jobs will be created in the industry over the next decade, demonstrating its viability to be a key driver for a global green recovery,” the report noted.

Future growth led by Asia-Pacific

Looking ahead, GWEC forecasts that new installations are likely to exceed 20GW in 2026 and then potentially reach 15GW by 2030.

As a result, through 2030, more than 205GW of new offshore wind capacity will be added globally, including at least 6.2GW of floating offshore wind.

“This represents a 15GW increase from the forecasts in GWEC Market Intelligence’s pre-Covid forecast, demonstrating the resilience of the sector to play a major role in powering both the energy transition and a green recovery,” the association said.

Europe remains the largest offshore market as the end of 2019, making up 75% of total global offshore wind installation.

While existing markets are hungry for more, notably UK, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and China, based on the report, emerging markets are coming up fast.

“Emerging markets include Taiwan, US Atlantic Coast, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam,” GWEC said.

“Not only do these markets want low cost electricity to decarbonise their footprint but they are keen to establish their own supply chains to benefit their economies.”

However, GWEC noted that inflexible local content requirements could frustrate those economic hopes by raising the cost of electricity and creating inefficient local suppliers not able to compete on a regional or global market.

In addition, new markets are in the preparation phase. According to GWEC, interest in offshore wind is growing in Brazil, Mexico, India, Sri Lanka and Australia, while in Europe, the existing market will expand into Ireland, Poland and Lithuania.

Floating offshore wind

Nevertheless, GWEC said that for growth to continue, technology innovation will be key.

One such innovation has been floating offshore wind, which is forecast to reach full commercialisation by 2030 with at least 6GW installed globally.

GWEC said turbine technology is also set to improve in both efficiency and resilience, resulting in cost reductions and increased adoption.

Other innovations such as Power-to-X will also play a key role in opening new market opportunities for offshore wind and decarbonising our energy systems.

“Floating technology will come of age this decade, tripling the technical potential for offshore wind across the world,” GWEC said.

“Initially the key markets are France, Japan, South Korea, Scotland, Norway, Portugal, Spain and US Pacific Coast. Once commercial scale projects are established and costs come down many other locations will come into play, for example South Africa, Canada, Philippines and many island states,” the report noted.

Last year, 11.4 megawatts of floating wind was installed, of which 8.4MW was from Portugal and 3MW from Japan.

As of the 2019, a total of 65.7MW floating wind was installed global, of which 32MW is located in the UK, 19MW in Japan, 10.4MW in Portugal, 2.3MW in Norway and 2MW in France.

Energy Transition

China leads offshore wind installations race, with new global markets ‘in preparation phase’ - GWEC