China - As floating wind matures and hydrogen provides another potential source of demand, the opportunity for offshore wind is only growing.

According to WFO figures, out of the 9.4GW in sea-based projects completed in 2022, some 6.8GW was in the Asian superpower's waters, as worldwide plant expanded to 57.6GW. 

Chinese dominance of the fast-expanding global offshore wind build-out deepened last year with the Asian superpower installing over two-thirds of the new plant brought into operation around the world, according to a new report from World Forum Offshore Wind (WFO).

"Countries increasingly see the offshore wind sector as a key facilitator of their long-term climate goals, as they set new targets and increase existing ones. [Our] forecast for offshore capacity continues to rise as mature markets in Europe plan more projects via auctions and new markets in Asia and the Americas establish regulatory frameworks for offshore wind," said BNEF.

Despite the construction slow-down, forecast figures included in the report, supplied by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), point to global offshore wind installations nonetheless being on track to grow ten-fold in the next decade to reach 519GW by 2035.

Source: ReCharge