BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.4
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
A monumental step-up is expected in installed offshore wind capacity this year, Trend reports citing Rystad Energy consulting company based in Norway.
The company forecasts a 37 percent increase in 2021 led by China, versus 31.9 GW in 2020.
The installed offshore wind capacity rose by 15 percent in 2020 despite the pandemic and stood at 31.9 gigawatts, compared to 27.7 GW as of 2019. The Top 3 countries contributing to this growth were China with 39 percent, Netherlands (18 percent) and the UK (17 percent), said Rystad Energy.
Rystad Energy expects the global installed offshore wind capacity to further increase by 11.8 GW in 2021. China will continue to lead the new capacity additions, contributing 63 percent of the expected growth.
As Covid-19 hit the world, more countries closed their borders and went into lockdown and several manufacturing sites for turbines and other components temporarily shut down operations.
However, with the first wave of the virus settling, the offshore wind market returned to a growth trajectory, supported by increased capacity targets from several nations. While staying resilient in an uncertain market was key in 2020, this year the industry finds itself positioned for record growth, especially as commissioning activities pick up pace in Asia and around the world.
After 2021, China will begin phasing out feed-in-tariffs and many developers are therefore pushing to complete projects during the coming period. As such, this year is expected to see high capacity additions in the country.
Europe and the US also saw some delays due to the pandemic. The developers of the second phase of the 50 MW Kincardine floating offshore wind project in Scotland and the Kriegers Flak combined grid solution in Denmark had to delay start-up. In the US, Danish player Ørsted announced in October delays of at least one year for five projects due to permitting issues.
Nevertheless, offshore wind developers stayed committed to their ambitions and continued to make final investment decisions for projects in 2020. The UK sanctioned more than 4.7 GW of offshore wind and the Netherlands followed with over 2.2 GW. As a result, major projects such as Triton Knoll in the UK, Borssele 3 & 4 in the Netherlands and Kriegers Flak in Denmark are expected to be completed during 2021.
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