The global capacity of fully operational offshore wind farms has reached 80.9GW, up from 70.2GW twelve months ago.

RenewableUK’s latest Offshore Wind EnergyPulse Insights report shows that the increase of 15 per cent was achieved mainly in two markets, with China adding 6.9GW and the Netherlands 1.7GW. In total these two countries added 63 per cent of the total capacity.

Furthermore, growth is set to continue, as the number of projects in the global offshore wind pipeline has increased from 1,461 to 1,555 over the last twelve months, and the number of countries involved in the sector is up from 41 to 44 as new markets continue to emerge, with the first offshore wind projects in Indonesia, Chile, and Malta confirmed in 2024.

Currently, China is still the global leader with a pipeline of 247GW across 437 projects, and the UK remains in second place with 96GW across 123 projects. The US is third at 79GW, Germany fourth (68GW) and Sweden fifth (55GW).

The report also shows that 13 UK offshore wind projects are currently eligible to bid into this year’s Contracts for Difference auction (Allocation Round 7) with a total capacity of 7.3GW. To put this into context, the total capacity of all offshore wind farms now operating in UK waters stands at 14.7GW.

---