There will be strong growth in installations of offshore wind turbines across the globe for many years to come.

This is indicated by the rapidly growing pipeline of projects which have been supported by recent years’ falling prices on power generated from wind at sea.

The positive outlook also receives an extra boost by new and higher targets from a growing number of countries seeing the potential in offshore wind and eagerly wanting to ride the wave.

The assessment comes from Søren Lassen, Head of Global Offshore Wind Energy Research at analyst firm Wood Mackenzie, in an interview with MarketWire in connection with this week’s WindEurope conference in Bilbao, Spain.

”2021 is a really good year to look at, also when looking ahead, because what makes offshore wind particularly interesting is not where we are today, but how much capacity we expect to set up in the coming ten years,” says Lassen.

According to Wood Mackenzie, the global pipeline of offshore wind projects grew by almost 70 percent last year to 1TW.

”That’s a huge number. 1,000 gigawatt is more than what onshore installations amount to today. Over the next ten years, we expect that installed capacity of offshore turbines will septuple compared to what was installed at the end of 2021.”

”But what’s really interesting is the rate at which new opportunities arise. It’s an incredibly dynamic market, and it’s a very strong trend where new opportunities constantly arise,” says Lassen.

Aside from a growing number of energy companies flocking to enter the market on the developer side, development is also driven by targets set – and continuing to be set – by governments concerning offshore wind energy.

”The total accumulative targets set by governments towards 2030 rose by more than 30 percent last year. That’s a huge increase, once again. New opportunities keep coming all the time. Governments keep expanding their targets and the pipeline keeps growing,” says Lassen.

By the end of Q1 of 2022, nothing seems to a slower pace of growth in the market for wind at sea.

”The trend continues in terms of the pipeline. These are very new markets, and then there are the leasing auctions in more established markets, which will drive growth in the pipeline,” assesses Lassen.

This year saw a major leasing auction in Scotland as well as one in New York. Another two are coming up in South Carolina and California. The auctions will open the way for additional sea areas where a new pipeline of projects can be set up.

”And aside from these established markets, there are all these new markets where there are loads of new players coming in trying to position themselves. An instance of this is the market in Brazil where we see huge growth in the pipeline,” says Lassen.

The fact that the offshore wind market is picking up speed in earnest must must be viewed in light of recent years’ price drops within the sector. According to Wood Mackenzie, the MWh price for power generated by wind turbines dropped by all of 66 percent from 2014 through to those projects being set up in 2025.

”A few years ago, the assessment was that offshore wind was too expensive for it to grow into a big market. But the development since then has helped make wind at sea an incredibly exciting market with immensely rapid growth.”

”Demand has picked up as prices have gone down. Governments’ targets for the green transition also play a huge role, but they wouldn’t be able to carry it out if prices for renewable energy hadn’t gone down as much as they have,” says Lassen.

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