Publishing its Global Offshore Wind Report for the first half of 2020, the World Forum Offshore Wind (WFO) has confirmed that the market continues to grow quickly, despite the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The WFO said that worldwide, 2.535 GW of offshore wind capacity entered operation in the first six months of 2020.
As of the end of June 2020, installed global offshore wind capacity reached 29.839 GW.
WFO managing director Gunnar Herzig said: “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 installation.”
A total of 10 new offshore windfarms entered operation in the first half of 2020, in the UK, China, Germany, Portugal, Belgium and the US.
Globally, 157 offshore windfarms are now in operation, of which 105 are in Europe, 50 in Asia and two in the US.
The UK remains the world’s largest 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 said China clearly leads the way in offshore wind capacity that is currently under construction.
“The Chinese offshore wind sector is growing rapidly with a total capacity of 4.6 GW currently under construction,” WFO said.
It added: “Disruption in the German offshore wind market, caused by changes in the regulatory framework, is clearly reflected by zero construction activity in the first six months of 2020.”
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