Offshore wind energy capacity additions reached 8 GW at the end of 2024, a 26% decrease from the previous year, according to a report by the Global Wind Energy Council.

By the end of 2024, a total of 83 GW of offshore wind power projects had been installed worldwide.

Source: GWEC

The decline in installations in 2024 has been attributed to adverse conditions, including a negative policy environment in the U.S., auction failures in the UK and Denmark, as well as grid transmission delays in Europe, which also contributed to the downward trend in offshore wind capacity additions.

Offshore wind has faced macroeconomic headwinds stemming from the Ukraine war, the COVID-19 recession, and surging inflation. As energy and commodity prices spiked, the costs of equipment, steel, labor, and other construction inputs rose sharply, prompting central banks to hike policy rates.

Out of the 8 GW of fresh capacity additions in 2024, China added 4 GW, followed by 2.7 GW by Europe, and 1.2 GW by the rest of the world.

Across the globe, 56 GW of offshore wind power projects were auctioned, with Europe accounting for 23.2 GW, China 17.4 GW, and the U.S. 8.4 GW. In the Asia Pacific region (excluding China), South Korea auctioned 3.3 GW of offshore wind power projects, Taiwan auctioned 2.7 GW, and Japan auctioned 1.4 GW.

Globally, 45 GW of offshore wind power projects are under construction..

Cumulatively, China’s offshore wind power project capacity reached 41.8 GW, followed by Europe with 36 GW.

Source: GWEC

Cumulatively, Asia accounted for more than half of the global capacity, totaling 46.3 GW, with China alone accounting for 41.8 GW. Stemming from growing support for offshore wind power projects, the Asia Pacific region (excluding China) is also seeing growth.

The Philippines has identified 65 GW of suitable sites and plans to hold its first offshore wind bidding round in September 2025, aiming to have turbines spinning in the water by 2028.

Vietnam’s updated Power Development Plan VIII has introduced a target of 6–17 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2035.

A total of $327.8 billion was invested in offshore wind power projects worldwide.

Floating Offshore Wind

According to the report, annual floating wind installations are unlikely to reach 1 GW before 2030. It expects a cumulative 2.6 GW of floating wind installations by 2030.

By the end of 2034, China, the UK, South Korea, Norway, and Portugal are likely to be the top five floating markets.

2025-2034

Global offshore wind annual capacity is expected to cross the milestone of 30 GW by 2030 and 50 GW by 2033. GWEC expects more than 350 GW of new offshore wind capacity to be added between 2025 and 2034, bringing the total to 441 GW by the end of 2034.

Source: GWEC

However, in the short term, GWEC downgraded its global offshore wind outlook for total offshore wind additions by 24% for capacity additions between 2025 and 2029.

Over the long term, China and Europe, which account for 94% of the total offshore wind installations, are expected to continue dominating offshore wind growth. However, their global market shares in cumulative installations are anticipated to decline to 89% by 2029 and 84% by 2034. The drop in market share is attributed to growth in new markets outside the APAC and North America regions.

Latin America is expected to see its first utility-scale offshore wind project come online by the early 2030s.

Global offshore wind saw its second-highest capacity installations in 2023, GWEC reported. The industry added 10.8 GW of capacity in 2023, representing a 24% increase from the previous year, and bringing the global total to 75.2 GW.