Global Floating Offshore Wind Pipeline Grows to 266 GW – Report

October 8, 2024, by Adnan Memija

The global pipeline of floating offshore wind projects has expanded from 244 GW to 266 GW in the last twelve months, reflecting a nine per cent increase, according to a report published by RenewableUK.

The number of global projects has increased from 285 to 316, with the pipeline including projects at various stages: fully operational, under construction, approved, in the planning system, or in the early stages of development, according to the report.

Globally, 102 MW are under construction (four projects), 7.3 GW are consented or in the pre-construction phase (22 projects), 21.6 GW are in the planning system (15 projects) and 184 GW are in early development or applying for a lease.

So far, 245 MW of floating wind are fully operational across 15 projects in seven countries, the report outlines. Norway has the most with 94 MW across three projects, the UK is second with 78 MW (two projects), followed by China with 40 MW (five projects), Portugal is fourth with 25 MW (one project), and Japan fifth with 5 MW (two projects).

Although Italy has the largest pipeline with 16 per cent of the global total (41.3 GW), most of these projects are at an early stage of development, according to RenewableUK, and the same applies to the US which is second with 13 per cent (35.3 GW).

The UK is third with 12 per cent (33.1 GW), followed by Spain at nine per cent (24.7 GW), and Sweden at seven per cent (18.2 GW).

“It’s great to see the UK maintaining its position as a world leader in floating wind, but in an increasingly competitive global market the industry will now have to work even harder with the Government to ensure that we ramp up the amount of floating capacity we secure in each annual auction from now on to maintain our advantage”, said RenewableUK’s Chief Executive Dan McGrail, Co-Chair of the Floating Offshore Wind Taskforce.

“This will enable us to build up a world-class supply chain and achieve the economies of scale we need to drive down costs as fast as possible.”

In terms of other news coming from the floating offshore wind market, recently the world’s first semi-submersible floating offshore wind farm, WindFloat Atlantic, surpassed anticipated production figures, achieving a cumulative output of 320 GWh.

Connected to the grid by the end of 2019 and fully commissioned in 2020, the wind farm consists of three platforms, each supporting one 8.4 MW Vestas turbine, which are anchored with chains to the seabed and connected to the onshore substation in the Portuguese municipality of Viana do Castelo through a 20-kilometre cable.