New offshore wind capacity of 410 GW to be installed over next 10 years: Report

The wind industry installed 10.8 GW of new offshore wind capacity in 2023.

New offshore wind capacity of 410 gigawatts (GW) would be installed over the next 10 years, helping meet the global target of 380 GW by 2030 on the way, the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) said in a report on June 17.

GWEC said the anticipated growth would be driven by the arrival of the next wave of offshore wind markets such as Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brazil, Colombia, Ireland, India and Poland, where policy developments and unprecedented focus across governments, industry and civil society is setting the conditions for long-term offshore wind development at scale.

“Offshore wind is poised for truly global growth after 2023 saw the second-highest annual installations as well as key policy developments that set the foundations for accelerated expansion of the industry over the next decade,” the report said.

Wind energy comes from on and offshore farms. Huge wind turbines located on land give onshore energy, while offshore comes from wind farms located in water bodies.

The majority of the capacity addition would come at the turn of the decade, with two-thirds installed between 2029 and 2033, the report said.

The rapid expansion must be built on a growing collaboration between industry and government and the creation of streamlined and effective policy and regulatory frameworks.

In 2023, despite the macroeconomic challenges in some key markets, the wind industry installed 10.8 GW of new offshore capacity, taking the global total to 75.2 GW, it said.

GWEC expects the current growth in new capacity addition to continue up to 2030, given the present increase in policy momentum continues.

New capacity increased 24 percent in the previous year, it said.

Installing almost 11 GW of offshore wind is the leading edge of a new wave of offshore wind growth. “Policy progress, especially across the Asia-Pacific region and the Americas, has set us on course to regularly install record-breaking capacity annually, and pass the 380 GW target set up by the Global Offshore Wind Alliance,” Global Wind Energy Council CEO Ben Backwell said. The offshore wind is on course to achieve the tripling ambition set at COP28 in Dubai, he said.

The Global Offshore Wind Alliance, founded by Denmark, the International Renewable Energy Agency and the Global Wind Energy Council was officially launched at COP27 in November 2022 for a rapid ramp-up of offshore wind to tackle energy and climate crises. India is part of the alliance.