Globally, 2,535 MW of offshore wind was put into operation during the first half of the year, with offshore wind installations reaching 29,839 MW by the end of June 2020, according to World Forum Offshore’s (WFO) H1 2020 Global Offshore Wind Report.
The organisation said the figures underline the continued growth of the global offshore wind industry during 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
“WFO’s first half-year update of its Global Offshore Wind Report underlines the robustness of the global offshore wind industry with 2020 likely to be another record-breaking year for global offshore wind installations” , said Gunnar Herzig , Managing Director at WFO.
Ten new offshore wind farms went into operation across several countries during H1 2020: the UK, China, Germany, Portugal, Belgium and the U.S.
According to WFO’s report , 157 offshore wind farms are now in operation worldwide: 105 are in Europe, 50 in Asia, and two in the U.S.
“The UK remains the world’s biggest offshore wind market with 10.4 GW of total installed capacity. Germany only narrowly retains its second place with a total of 7.7 GW of operational capacity. China, currently in third place, is rapidly catching up with 6.4 GW of installed offshore wind power” , WFO states.
Some 57 per cent of the global offshore wind capacity currently under construction is in China, where offshore wind farms totalling 4.6 GW are now being built.
China’s offshore wind sector growth has also been the highlight of a recent report from GlobalData, which said 25 per cent of offshore wind capacity to be added by 2030 will be installed in China.
WFO reports zero construction activities in Germany during the first six months of 2020, where regulatory framework changes caused the disruption in the offshore wind market.