While Europe has tended to hog the headlines of late, it is China that is expected to lead the way in global offshore wind farm development in the coming years according to consultants Rystad Energy.
Rystad reports that the world’s installed offshore wind capacity rose by 15% in 2020, reaching 31.9 gw, with China the main contributor accounting for 39% followed by Netherlands (18%) and the UK (17%).
Rystad Energy expects global installed offshore wind capacity to further increase by 11.8 gw in 2021, and China will continue to lead new capacity additions contributing 63% of the expected growth.
“China had a construction backlog of more than 10 gw going into 2020, and Chinese developers are racing to reach maximum commissioning by the end of the year in order to claim full feed-in-tariffs. This means 2021 is going to see major capacity additions, particularly since some projects initially scheduled for commissioning in 2020 ended up slipping into 2021,” said Alexander Fløtre, Rystad Energy’s product manager for offshore wind.
