Global floating wind pipeline swells by 9% over past 12 months

The worldwide floating wind project pipeline has grown by 9% to 266GW in the last 12 months, led by projects in Italy, the US and the UK, a new report by industry group RenewableUK showed.

The pipeline includes 316 projects that are fully operational, under construction, approved, in the planning system or at an early stage of development.

But the UK, number two in operational floating capacity with 78MW, does hold the third position in the global ranking of projects under development with 33.1GW in the pipeline (or 12% of the global total).

“It’s great to see the UK maintaining its position as a world leader in floating wind, but in an increasingly competitive global market, the industry will now have to work even harder with the government to ensure that we ramp up the amount of floating capacity we secure in each annual auction from now on to maintain our advantage,” Renewable UK CEO Dan McGrail said, who is also the co-chair of the country’s floating offshore wind taskforce.

“This will enable us to build up a world-class supply chain and achieve the economies of scale we need to drive down costs as fast as possible.”

Italy with a floating wind pipeline of 41.3W (16% of the global total) and the US with 35.3GW (13%) have a larger pipeline than the UK, but most projects in it are at an early stage of development.

The ranking is followed by Spain with 24.7GW (or 9%) and Sweden with 18.2GW (or 7%).

“The Floating Offshore Wind Taskforce will be setting out the extraordinary size of this industrial opportunity in a major report out tomorrow, which shows how this innovative technology can play a crucial role in Britain’s economic growth and in our clean power system in the decades ahead,” McGrail added.

RenewableUK will hold its Floating Offshore Wind 2024 conference and exhibition tomorrow and Thursday in Aberdeen.