UK raises offshore wind power target to 86 GW

The United Kingdom reinforces the offshore wind target to 86 GW. The UK’s total pipeline of offshore wind projects now stands at 86 GW, more than eight times its current operating capacity, new research published by RenewableUK shows.

figures include projects fully operational, under construction, approved, in planning or in development.
This represents a 60% increase over the last 12 months, mainly driven by the massive announcements of leasing rounds from The Crown Estate (8GW) and Crown Estate Scotland (25GW).

The statistics also showed that the total global offshore wind figure has reached 517 GW. China now has more fully operational capacity than the UK (24 GW compared to 10.5 GW), but the UK’s total of 86 GW is larger than China’s 75 GW. The United States ranks third with 48 GW in the pipeline.

RenewableUK Chief Executive Dan McGrail said: “Our latest EnergyPulse report shows that the UK offshore wind industry has made great strides forward in the last 12 months, with landmark lease announcements adding a further 33GW to our portfolio. and financing for floating energy projects.
It is clear that offshore wind power will do the heavy lifting as we secure our homegrown clean energy supplies and move faster towards independence from unstable fossil fuel imports.

“The global offshore wind power market also continues to grow at a phenomenal rate with an additional 200 GW added over the last year. As the UK was one of the early movers in offshore wind power, we are in a unique position to capitalize on our experience as a market leader, which is highly sought after around the world.”

The report also analyzed data on the main components of UK offshore wind farms, such as wind turbines, cables and substations. This showed that the average capacity of wind turbines will increase from 8-9 MW this year to 14-15 MW by 2025. The report noted that this requires more factories in the UK, which will also need to be larger, creating new opportunities in the supply chain.