RenewableUK’s latest EnergyPulse market intelligence data report shows that the global pipeline of offshore wind projects has almost doubled over the past twelve months, from 429 gigawatts of capacity a year ago to 846GW today. The pipeline includes projects at every stage of development: operational, under construction, consented or planned.
China has the biggest offshore wind project pipeline at 98GW, the UK is in second place at 91GW (up from 55GW a year ago) and the USA is third with 80GW. Germany is fourth at 57GW. Other countries with major pipelines include Brazil, Sweden, Ireland, Vietnam and South Korea. Europe has a pipeline of 350GW (with 26GW fully operational) and the pipeline in countries outside Europe stands at 496GW.
In terms of operational capacity, China leads with 24.5GW, the UK is second at 10.5GW, Germany third with 7.7GW, The Netherlands fourth at 3GW and Denmark fifth with 2.3GW:
The UK has the biggest pipeline of floating projects in the world at 32GW. Sweden is second at 25GW, Taiwan third with 21GW, Ireland fourth at 16GW and South Korea fifth at 16GW. Australia, Italy, the USA and Finland also have significant floating wind pipelines.
The UK also has the biggest operational floating capacity at 80MW, with two floating wind farms generating in Scottish waters. More are planned as part of ScotWind and in the Celtic Sea. Portugal is second with 25MW and Norway and China share third at 6MW each. Equinor’s Norwegian 88MW Hywind Tampen project is due to be operational later this year.