According to the latest market outlook published by GWEC, 71.3 GW of wind power capacity is expected to be installed in 2020 despite the impacts of COVID-19, which is only a 6 per cent reduction from pre-COVID forecasts. This is a significant increase from original predictions that expected wind power installations to be reduced by up to 20 per cent due to the pandemic.
From 2020 to 2024, the cumulative global wind energy market will grow at a compound annual rate of 8.5 per cent and installing 348 GW of new capacity, bringing total global wind power capacity to nearly 1,000 GW by the end of 2024, which is an increase of 54 per cent for total wind power installations compared to 2019. While some project completion dates have been pushed into 2021 due to the pandemic, next year is expected to be a record year for the wind industry with 78 GW of new wind capacity forecasted to be installed in 2021. Over 50 per cent of the onshore wind capacity added between 2020 to 2024 will be installed in China and the US, led by installation rushes to meet subsidy deadlines.
The offshore wind sector has been largely shielded from the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. Therefore the forecast for offshore wind has been increased by 5 per cent to 6.5GW of new installations in 2020, led by the installation rush in China. Up until 2024, over 48 GW of new offshore wind capacity is expected to be installed, with another 157 GW forecasted to be installed from 2025 to 2030.