China accounted for half of new global offshore wind capacity in 2020
China has led the world in new offshore wind installations for the third year in a row with over 3 GW of new offshore wind capacity added in 2020.
According to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), the global offshore wind industry installed over 6 GW of new capacity in 2020, and 50.45% of the new capacity was contributed by China. The Netherlands came in second, installing nearly 1.5 GW of new offshore wind capacity in 2020.
China has now surpassed Germany in terms of cumulative installations, becoming the second-largest offshore wind market globally with the UK remaining in top spot.
“The continued growth of the offshore wind industry globally throughout the pandemic is a testament to the resilience of this booming industry. Although China was hit first by the COVID-19 crisis, the impacts on the offshore wind sector were minimal, resuming ‘busines-as-usual’ as early as March 2020. China’s record-breaking growth is expected to continue in 2021, driven by an offshore wind installation rush to meet China’s Feed-in-Tariff deadline by the end of this year,” said Feng Zhao, head of market intelligence and strategy at GWEC.
“While Europe remains the largest offshore wind market globally, Asia Pacific will play an increasingly important role driving industry growth as major economies such as Japan and South Korea have recently established ambitious offshore wind targets. The US will also become an increasingly important market for offshore wind, as the new administration has made it clear they are working to accelerate growth of this crucial industry,” Zhao added.
