Westwood Global Energy Group’s (WGEG’s) World Offshore Wind Market Forecast 2017-2026 shows an encouraging picture for the US offshore wind sector over the next decade. Cumulative capacity is set to grow from 30MW in 2016 to 2.5GW by 2026, with an additional 1GW of capacity from projects which have not yet passed conceptual phases, assuming an offshore wind target of 5GW by 2030.
US offshore wind expenditure is forecast to total US$ 28 bn between 2017 and 2026, with a 39% year-on-year growth. Hardware Capex is expected to amount to € 19.1 billion, accounting for 68% of total spend, followed by installation at €6.2 billion (22%) and planning and development at € 2.9 billion (10%). The US total population of operational turbines is expected to grow from 6 in 2016 to 580 by 2026.
Deepwater Wind has obtained a permission to build the 90 MW Deepwater One wind farm off New York. Statoil will also be exploring the potential to host over 1 GW offshore New York. Other encouraging signs include the first US auction under Trump, which resulted in a winning bid of nearly US$ 9.1 million from Avangrid Renewables, for the 1.5GW Kitty Hawk project lease, and the award of offshore wind renewable credits by the Maryland Public Service Commission in May 2017.