A new report from RenewableUK has revealed that the UK now has the world’s second-largest offshore wind pipeline at present, as the global capacity of offshore wind farms has crossed the 80GW threshold.
The trade group’s latest ‘EnergyPulse Insights’ report notes that the UK currently has 96GW of capacity across 123 projects at all stages of development, from planning to full operations. China continues to lead the pack with 247GW of capacity across 437 projects, with the US in third place with 79GW of capacity. Europe remains a strong market for wind, with Germany and Sweden ranking fourth and fifth in offshore pipeline, with 68GW and 55GW respectively.
According to Renewable UK, a total of 13 UK offshore wind projects will be eligible to submit bids for this year’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) round, Allocation Round 7 (AR7). If all of these projects win capacity in the auction, 7.3GW of offshore wind capacity could be added to the UK market, which currently has 14.7GW of operational offshore wind capacity. The trade group notes that every gigawatt of new offshore wind capacity adds over £2 billion to the UK economy.
RenewableUK’s chief executive Dan McGrail said: “Our latest EnergyPulse Insights report shows that the global offshore wind market is continuing to grow at an extraordinary speed year after year, as more countries look to seize the industrial, economic and environmental opportunities which the technology offers.
“The UK remains a world leader in this race, and the government could strengthen that position further in the coming months by maximising investment in new offshore wind capacity in this year’s auction for new projects, as well as prioritising measures to support the growth of the UK supply chain in its upcoming Industrial Strategy”.
RenewableUK recently released a report urging the UK government to reform the planning permission system to facilitate more battery energy storage system (BESS) co-location with offshore wind. The trade association notes that only 3MW of BESS capacity is currently co-located with offshore wind, adding that more co-location could help to minimise curtailment costs in the future.
Global offshore wind capacity grows 15% in last 12 months
The report also notes that global installed offshore wind capacity rose by 15% in the past 12 months, rising from 70.2GW to 80.9GW since last year. Around 63% of this growth came from two markets: China, which added 6.9GW of capacity last year, and the Netherlands, which added 1.7GW.
Wind capacity is set to continue rising in the coming months and years, as the global offshore wind pipeline is now larger than ever.
The number of countries involved in the offshore wind sector has risen from 41 to 44, as Indonesia, Chile and Malta entered the market in 2024. Meanwhile, the number of projects in the offshore wind pipeline has risen from 1,461 to 1,555 in the last year.
