The European offshore wind industry – key trends and statistics 2017

6 February 2018

The European offshore wind industry – key trends and statistics 2017

Overview

Offshore wind power in Europe saw a record 3,148 MW of net additional installed capacity in 2017. This corresponds to 560 new offshore wind turbines across 17 wind farms. There were 14 projects fully completed and connected to the grid, including the first floating offshore wind farm. Work is going on a further 11 projects in Germany and the UK.

Europe now has a total installed offshore wind capacity of 15,780 MW. This corresponds to 4,149 grid-connected wind turbines across 11 countries. 2017 was a record year: twice as much as 2016 and 4% higher than the previous record in 2015.

2.5 GW of new capacity reached FID during 2017. Six projects worth €7.5bn reached FID. This is a 60% decrease from 2016 and the first decrease in investments since 2012

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Findings

Record year for European offshore wind: 3.1 GW of capacity installed in 2017, double the capacity installed in 2016

European offshore wind capacity has grown 25% to 15.8 GW. We now have 94 grid-connected wind farms and 4,149 turbines

Offshore wind turbines are getting bigger: the average size in 2017 was 5.9 MW, 23% up on 2016.

Offshore wind investments in Europe saw €7.5bn in Final Investment Decisions (FID) for a total capacity of 2.5GW in UK and Germany.

In 2017 lenders extended €6.2bn in non-recourse debt for the financing of new and operational offshore wind farms.

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