Research by RenewableUK into the total size of the pipeline of floating offshore wind projects worldwide shows that it currently stands at over 54GW if all are fully constructed. The pipeline includes projects from an early stage of development through to those which are fully operational.
Over half of this is in Europe (30.9GW), with the UK leading the world at 8.8GW. Ireland has 7.7GW in the pipeline, Sweden 6.2GW and Italy 3.7GW. Norway, Spain and France are also planning to deploy floating wind at scale. This week the UK Government announced a dedicated budget of £24 million to support floating projects in the next CfD auction which opens in December. A significant number of floating wind farms are expected to come forward as a result of the ongoing ScotWind leasing process by Crown Estate Scotland which has received over 70 applications overall to install up to 10GW of new fixed-foundation and floating wind capacity. The Crown Estate confirmed in July that 300MW of new floating projects have been given the green light to progress to the next stage of assessment in the Celtic Sea (between south west England, Wales and Ireland). The most important global players in floating wind outside Europe are Australia at 7.4GW, South Korea on 7.1GW and the USA which has a pipeline of 5.5GW. Taiwan has 1.5GW and Japan 1.3GW. China and Saudi Arabia are also planning projects.
