Record 6.1GW of New Offshore Wind Capacity Installed in 2019

The global offshore wind industry installed a record 6.1GW of new capacity in 2019, bringing total capacity to 29GW, according to the latest data from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).

This was a 35.5 percent increase on the previous year, which saw 4.5GW installed. Growth is set to accelerate, with GWEC Market Intelligence’s preliminary forecasts estimating that an additional 50GW of new offshore wind capacity could be installed by 2024 globally. This would mean that total installed offshore wind capacity could reach nearly 80GW globally over the next five years, an increase of almost 172 percent from today’s capacity.

Europe remained the largest market for offshore wind, accounting for 59 percent of new installations in 2019, while the Asia-Pacific region accounted for the remaining 41 percent. China remains the overall leader in new installations for offshore wind, adding more than 2.3GW capacity in 2019, with the U.K. and Germany in second and third place, installing 1.8GW and 1.1GW respectively.

Offshore wind accounted for approximately 10 percent of new wind power installations in 2019, an increase from five percent in 2015. The predicted 50GW of new offshore wind capacity to be installed from 2020-2024 is expected to contributed to by projects in emerging markets with ambitious targets for offshore wind such as the U.S., Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam and South Korea are realized.

Eight markets reported new offshore wind installations in 2019:

China – 2,395MW
United Kingdom – 1,764MW
Germany – 1,111MW
Denmark – 374MW
Belgium – 370MW
Taiwan – 120MW
Portugal – 8MW (floating)
Japan – 3MW (floating)