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Global Offshore Wind Report 2021

Offshore Wind capacity grew steadily in 2020, but governments will need to act decisively to improve policy in order to scale up installations at the pace required to help the world meet its carbon emissions targets and avoid the worst effects of global heating, according to the Global Wind Energy Council, which launches its flagship Global Offshore Wind Report 2021. The global offshore wind industry installed 6.1GW of capacity in 2020, down slightly from a record 6.24GW in 2019, although GWEC expects a new record year in 2021, as China’s offshore wind sector rushes to install 7.5GW ahead of the expiry of current feed in tariffs (FITs). China led the world in new installations for the third year in a row with more than 3 GW of offshore wind grid connected in 2020. Steady growth in Europe accounted for the majority of remaining new capacity, led by the Netherlands, which installed nearly 1.5 GW of new offshore wind in 2020, followed by Belgium (706 MW). The report forecasts 235 GW of new offshore wind capacity will be installed over the next decade under current policies. That capacity is seven times bigger than the current market size, and is a 15 per cent increase on the previous year’s forecasts.

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