Europe set a record for offshore wind plant construction in 2019 as projects totaling 3.6GW were brought into operation off five countries, led by the UK where nearly half the capacity, 1.7GW, was added, according to statistics published today by industry advocacy body WindEurope.

The build-out, which included additions of 1.1GW in Germany, 374MW in Denmark and 370MW Belgium – as well as 8.3MW of floating wind off Portugal as the first turbine of the 25MW WindFloat Atlantic was grid-connected, means 22GW of sea-based wind power is now flowing in from EU waters.