Global offshore wind capacity jumps 14% to 85 GW, with UK still leading Europe

Global operational offshore wind capacity has climbed 14% in the past 12 months, reaching 85.2 GW, according to RenewableUK’s latest EnergyPulse Insights Offshore Wind report. 

China continues to dominate the league table on a global scale with 42.9 GW, while the UK retains its position as Europe’s clear leader on 15.6 GW. Germany (9 GW) and the Netherlands (5.4 GW) remain in third and fourth place respectively, with Taiwan (3 GW) leapfrogging Denmark (2.7 GW) into fifth.

A further 27.3 GW of capacity is under construction worldwide. Once those projects switch on, which is expected around mid-2026, the global total will smash through the symbolic 100 GW barrier. Looking further ahead, RenewableUK forecasts that operational capacity could almost treble to 244 GW by the end of the decade as new markets take root. Offshore schemes have  already been mapped out in Indonesia, Chile, Guernsey, Bermuda and Malta over the past year – the first of their kind in those locales. 

Taking every project from early scoping through to commercial operation, the international pipeline has swollen to 1,219 GW spread across 1,555 sites in 46 countries.

In the UK, up to 8.5 GW of projects across 13 schemes already meet the technical criteria to enter the Government’s seventh Contracts for Difference round (AR7), due to open later this year. If five further schemes secure consent in time, that pool could rise to 16.3 GW. Ministers are also weighing a rule change that would let some fixed-bottom projects still in planning bid into AR7 – potentially lifting eligible capacity to 25.6 GW.

Jane Cooper, RenewableUK’s Deputy Chief Executive, welcomed the momentum, noting, “It’s great to see this significant increase in operational offshore wind capacity worldwide, as well as the healthy pipeline of future projects with new countries entering the market every year.

“As our latest EnergyPulse report shows, the UK is maintaining its position as a global leader in offshore wind with more capacity than any other European country and a bigger pipeline, despite intense international competition for private investment.