Offshore wind industry sees 21.1GW additional capacity in 2021

The GWEC marked this as the industry's “best-ever” year.

The offshore wind industry posted a 21.1-gigawatt (GW) capacity growth in 2021, which the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) described as the industry’s “best-ever year.”

In its Global Offshore Wind Report, the GWEC revised its  2030 outlook up by 45.3GW, representing a 16.7% growth. This comes as governments set more ambitious targets for offshore wind. 

“Governments across the world are now recognising the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that offshore wind represents to deliver secure, affordable, and clean energy while fostering industrial,” Ben Backwell, GWEC CEO, said. 

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The GWEC noted that based on its projections, some 260GW of new offshore wind capacity would be added between 2022 and 2030, bringing the total to 316GW. 

Government targets are also expected to reach around 370GW by 2031, which is close to the 380GW offshore wind target installation by 2030, set by the GWEC and International Renewable Energy Agency.  

“The wind industry needs to take its place as a key custodian of a healthy ocean ecosystem, as it becomes one of the world’s most important marine-based industries,” he said. 

“We need to work with stakeholders and communities in the Ocean environment to ensure that we scale up in a way that ensures holistic cooperation and planning and ensures the highest level of harmony with biodiversity and conservation goals.”

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