The European offshore wind industry saw new capacity installations decline by 84 MW (5.34%) in 2014 as the sector stabilised following record figures the previous year.
In 2014, 408 new offshore turbines were fully grid connected, adding 1,483 MW to the European system. The total installed capacity for Europe now stands at 8,045MW in 74 offshore wind farms in 11 European countries.
Justin Wilkes, deputy chief executive officer of the European Wind Energy Association, said: “It is not surprising that we see a levelling-off of installations in 2014 following a record year in 2013.
Offshore wind will have a monumental part to play in the EU’s energy security drive as part of the European Energy Union but it is political determination that will help Europe unlock its offshore wind potential.”
He added that policymakers need to come forward with stable long-term plans to push the growth of this industry.
In 2014, the UK accounted for over half of all new installations (54.8%) with Germany in second (35.7%) and Belgium (9.5%) making up the rest. But for 2015, Germany is expected to install more offshore capacity than the UK, which has dominated installations in Europe for the past three years.
The largest wind farms to be fully completed will be RWE’s Gwynt y Mor (576MW) in North Wales followed by Global Tech 1 (400MW) in the German North Sea.
EWEA European Offshore Statistics 2014