The global market for offshore wind has grown by 16% in the past 12 months, with the worldwide portfolio of projects in operation, under construction or in development rising from just under 105GW to 121GW, according to British trade body RenewableUK (RUK).
The US, with 15.7GW, has overtaken both China (12GW) and Taiwan (8.9GW) to become the third largest market for offshore wind, as the American pipeline grew 48% from 7.5GW last year.
The UK remains the clear global leader, with 38.4GW (a 9% year-on-year rise), while Germany remains in second place on 16.5GW, despite a slight fall due to the cancellation of some older projects.
“The surge in new projects globally comes in a year in which the costs of offshore wind have continued to fall, with many markets seeing prices drop in excess of 50% in the last few years,” said RenewableUK. “Earlier this month, France secured 600MW at less than €50 ($56) per MWh and, in the UK, a new auction process is expected to secure up to 6,000MW of new capacity at prices below £56 ($70) a MWh.”
The association points out that the UK government recently agreed a sector deal with the offshore wind industry, which will see turbines at sea providing more than a third of the UK's power by 2030.
“The UK is putting offshore wind at the heart of our energy future and markets across the globe are following our lead,” said RenewableUK chief executive Hugh McNeal.
“Other countries are racing to match world leaders like the UK, opening up opportunities for export and investment across the globe. Innovation in offshore wind will help transform the UK’s energy system and set global trends in new markets.”
The findings have been released as part of RenewableUK’s Offshore Wind Project Intelligence report, which has been published today at the organisation’s Global Offshore Wind 2019 conference in London.
