WFO releases Global Offshore Wind Report’s HY1 2020 update - demonstrating continued industry growth despite COVID-19

WORLD FORUM OFFSHORE WIND (WFO) published its Global Offshore Wind Report for the first half-year of 2020 (HY1 2020). Globally 2,535 MW of offshore wind capacity went into operation during HY1 2020. This underlines the continued growth of the global offshore wind industry during 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic. In total global offshore wind installations reached 29,839 MW by the end of June 2020.

Worldwide 10 new offshore wind farms went into operation during HY1 2020 in UK, China, Germany, Portugal, Belgium and USA. Globally 157 offshore wind farms are now up and running of which 105 are located in Europe, 50 in Asia and 2 in the USA. The UK remains the world’s biggest offshore wind market with 10.4 GW of total installed capacity. Germany only narrowly retains its second place with a total of 7.7 GW of operational capacity. China, currently in third place, is rapidly catching up with 6.4 GW of installed offshore wind power.

Looking at offshore wind farms under construction China clearly leads the way. The Chinese offshore wind sector is growing rapidly with a total capacity of 4.6 GW currently under construction. The disruption in the German offshore wind market caused by regulatory framework changes is clearly reflected by zero construction activities in Germany during the first six months of 2020.

Gunnar Herzig, Managing Director, WFO: “WFO’s first half-year update of its Global Offshore Wind Report underlines the robustness of the global offshore wind industry with 2020 likely to be another record-breaking year for global offshore wind installations.”

All information can be openly accessed via the WFO website under: www.wfo-global.org