TGS - 4C Offshore, a part of TGS, has declared 2023 to be a record year for offshore wind investment with projects totaling 12.3 GW having closed during the year. This represents a strong recovery from last year, when only 0.8 GW reached Final Investment Decision (FID).
TGS – 4C Offshore's latest Global Market Overview also states that 2024 could be lining up to be another record year with up to 13 G.W. possible. Final Investment Decisions were made by eight European projects in 2023, totaling 9.3 GW, with Hornsea closing just in time for Christmas. In Asia-Pacific, 2.3 GW closed across Taiwan and South Korea, and 704 MW in the USA at Revolution Wind.
The U.S. is currently experiencing record offtake activity, with five auctions in process. Candidates include new and existing projects, vying for more favorable terms. Overall, offtake needs to make up ground, according to the report, which states that offtake contracts are down almost 2 G.W. to 9.5 GW in 2023, primarily driven by a no-show in the U.K.'s Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction.
However, of those offtake contracts that were awarded, the price is markedly higher than in previous years – an average of €105/MWh in 2023 - reflecting recent inflation, supply chain constraints and interest rates on the cost of energy. The experts behind the report expect offtake contracts to remain an area of focus over the next two years.
The offtake auction schedule continues to look healthy, with 47.5 GW slated for 2024 (40 G.W. in Europe), and it's a similar story for lease rounds with 33.5 GW of leases under the hammer, including in Australia, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, India, Japan, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, the U.K., Uruguay and the USA.
The report also includes an exclusive deep dive into floating wind as part of a unique Market Attractiveness Index, which considers the most attractive floating wind markets. Once again, The U.K. comes out on top overall, followed by Norway. Other markets scoring highly include South Korea, which currently has the greatest perceived potential, and the U.S., which has the greatest ambition. However, 4C Offshore's forecast for floating wind underway by 2030 has been reduced for the 6th quarter in a row to 10 G.W. of capacity underway.
