UK to lose top spot in offshore wind in 2015

Germany will become the world’s leading market for annual offshore wind turbine installations in 2015. It is on track to add 2,071 megawatts this year. It is almost a four fold increase from the 529MW added in 2014. This is according to research from GlobalData.

The company’s latest report describes annual offshore wind installations will more than double between 2014 and 2015. This is from 1,681 MW to 3,903 MW.

Ankit Mathur, GlobalData’s Practice Head for Power, says that while Germany’s annual offshore installations will soar this year, UK additions will remain relatively steady, decreasing marginally from 813 MW in 2014 to 801 MW in 2015. In addition, the UK will move down to third place in the rankings, as China surges into second position with 817 MW in 2015.

Mathur explains: “Germany’s huge increase in offshore installations is attributable to several offshore wind projects scheduled to come online in 2015. China is also planning an array of offshore wind projects this year, which will see it overtake the UK for annual installations. Additionally, the next few years will see China maintain its annual offshore wind installations around the 1 Gigawatt mark, while the UK will observe relatively lower installations until 2018, when the country’s next offshore growth spurt is expected.”