The Global Wind Energy Council’s (GWEC) 2025 Global Offshore Wind Report underscores a transformative year for offshore wind energy, despite facing policy and market challenges.
The offshore wind sector added 8 GW of new capacity in 2024, ranking as the fourth-highest year on record. This growth pushes global installed offshore wind capacity to 83 GW — enough to power 73 million households — highlighting the sector’s major role in the global energy transition.
Rebecca Williams, Deputy CEO of the Global Wind Energy Council, said: “Offshore wind is powering into a new era. With 83 GW installed, offshore wind is already keeping the lights on for 73 million households, providing hundreds of thousands of jobs and boosting economic growth.
Achievements
Record Capacity Auctions and Construction: In 2024, governments globally awarded 56 GW of new offshore wind capacity through auctions — an all-time record. Additionally, 48 GW of offshore wind capacity is currently under construction, another record-setting milestone.
China Leads Installations: China maintained its leadership for the seventh consecutive year in new offshore wind capacity, followed by the UK, Taiwan (China), Germany, and France.
Floating Wind Progress: The global floating wind sector reached 278 MW by end-2024, with notable projects in Norway, the UK, China, France, Portugal, Japan, and Spain.
Forecast
Growth Projections: GWEC forecasts annual offshore wind installations to rise from 8 GW in 2024 to 34 GW by 2030. By 2034, annual additions are projected to hit 55 GW.
Total Capacity: Offshore wind capacity is expected to grow at a 21 percent CAGR over the next decade, adding 350 GW between 2025–2034 and reaching a total of 441 GW by 2034.
Market Share Shift: While China and Europe currently dominate, their combined share of global offshore wind installations will drop from 94 percent today to 84 percent by 2034, as new markets emerge in APAC, North America, and Latin America.
Strategies for Growth
Redesigning Auctions: GWEC emphasizes the need to shift away from low-cost bidding to smarter auctions that focus on project deliverability, risk-sharing, and long-term viability.
Policy Reform: Governments are urged to stabilize policy frameworks and streamline permitting processes. Failures in recent auctions in mature markets like the UK and Denmark and instability in the U.S. have prompted a downward revision of GWEC’s short-term outlook.
Supply Chain Collaboration: Industry leaders, including Mingyang Smart Energy and Lincoln Electric, highlight the importance of global supply chain coordination and advanced manufacturing to meet growing demand.
Investment in Infrastructure: Iberdrola and others stress the necessity of regulatory certainty and infrastructure investment to enable timely delivery of projects and attract private capital.
Market and Technology Trends
Diversification of Markets: Offshore wind is expanding rapidly into new geographies, with strong government-industry collaboration in Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, Australia, Brazil, and Colombia.
Electrification and Economic Growth: Offshore wind is increasingly being seen as a driver of industrial growth and energy security, with countries aligning offshore wind strategies with national electrification and climate goals.
Floating Wind Innovation: Although still small in scale, floating wind capacity is gaining momentum, particularly in Europe and East Asia, and is expected to play a critical role in deepwater offshore development.
Industrial Evolution: Advanced automation, welding, and foundation manufacturing are emerging as strategic priorities to scale up supply chain capacity and reduce costs.
Despite short-term setbacks caused by auction failures, transmission delays, and policy headwinds, the offshore wind sector is poised for robust long-term growth. With 83 GW already powering millions of homes and over 350 GW projected to be added by 2034, offshore wind is not only a key pillar of global clean energy transitions — it is also becoming a foundation for the next wave of industrial development and economic resilience.
GreentechLead.com News Desk