Global floating offshore wind pipeline grew 9% in last 12 months
To date, 245 MW of floating wind are fully operational across 15 projects in seven countries. Norway has the most with 94 MW across three projects, the UK is second with 78 MW (two projects), followed by China with 40 MW (five projects), Portugal is fourth with 25 MW (one project) and Japan fifth with 5 MW (two projects).
Globally, four projects and 102 MW are under construction, 7.3 GW are consented or in the pre-construction phase (a total of 22 projects), 21.6 GW are in the planning system (15 projects) and 184 GW are in early development or applying for a lease.
Although Italy has the largest pipeline with 16% of the global total (41.3 GW), most of these projects are at an early stage of development. The same applies to the US which is second with 13% (35.3 GW). The UK is third with 12% (33.1 GW), followed by Spain at 9% (24.7 GW) and Sweden on 7% (18.2 GW).
RenewableUK says 62% (165 GW) of floating wind capacity announced so far worldwide is being developed in European waters. 12%, that is, 33.1 GW of the global floating portfolio is in UK waters, three-quarters of which, 24.8 GW, is in Scottish waters.?
RenewableUK chief executive Dan McGrail, co-chair of the floating offshore wind taskforce said, “It is great to see the UK maintaining its position as a world leader in floating wind, but in an increasingly competitive global market the industry will now have to work even harder with the Government to ensure that we ramp up the amount of floating capacity we secure in each annual auction from now on to maintain our advantage. This will enable us to build up a world-class supply chain and achieve the economies of scale we need to drive down costs as fast as possible.
“The Floating Offshore Wind Taskforce will be setting out the extraordinary size of this industrial opportunity in a major report that which shows how this innovative technology can play a crucial role in Britain’s economic growth and in our clean power system in the decades ahead.”
