Global Wind Energy Council: China leads global offshore wind power growth for three consecutive years

Recently, the Global Wind Energy Council issued a report stating that despite the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic last year, the growth rate of global offshore wind power newly installed capacity has slowed, but it is expected that within this year, the global offshore wind power newly installed capacity will increase by one from last year.
It is expected to set a record high in history
.

Among them, the growth rate of China's offshore wind power installed capacity is particularly eye-catching.

China leads again

In the "2021 Global Offshore Wind Power Report" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") just released in September this year, the Global Wind Energy Council stated that in 2020, China’s newly installed offshore wind power capacity will reach 3 million kilowatts, accounting for last year’s global 49% of the total installed capacity of offshore wind power
.

The Global Wind Energy Council predicts that within this year, China’s total installed offshore wind power capacity is likely to surpass that of the United Kingdom, becoming the country with the largest installed offshore wind power capacity in the world

According to data from the report, in 2020, the Netherlands ranks second in the world's newly installed offshore wind power capacity.

Last year, the newly installed offshore wind power capacity reached nearly 1.
5 million kilowatts; Belgium ranked third, with an additional installed capacity of 706,000 kilowatts

From a global perspective, the global newly installed capacity of offshore wind power in 2020 is 6.

1 million kilowatts, slightly lower than the 6.
24 million kilowatts in 2019, and the annual new installed capacity is the second highest in history

According to data from the Global Wind Energy Council, in the past 10 years, the global offshore wind power market has grown at an annual rate of approximately 22%.

As of the end of 2020, the total global offshore wind power installed capacity is 35 million kilowatts, of which European installed capacity accounts for Up to 70%

Cost reduction pressure promotes fan innovation

　　Ben Backwell, CEO of the Global Wind Energy Council, said that the global offshore wind power industry will maintain rapid growth in the future, and will continue to "reduce prices, break through the height of wind turbines and sea depth", and will also bring higher social and economic benefits
.

　　However, the report also pointed out that the offshore wind power industry is still facing greater cost pressure, and the new generation of offshore wind turbine technology has become the key to reducing the industry's costs
.

Among them, large-megawatt units are currently generally recognized in the industry as a cost-cutting tool

　　The Global Wind Energy Council pointed out in the report that in 1991, the installed capacity of the world’s first offshore wind turbine was only 450 kilowatts.

Today, the capacity of offshore wind turbines has increased significantly.
International wind turbine manufacturers such as Siemens Gamesa and Vestas 15 MW offshore wind turbine models have been launched successively

　　It is worth noting that the report points out that in addition to large-capacity units, another innovative technology for offshore wind turbines that deserves attention is direct-drive medium-speed drive wind turbines.

This technology is larger in large-megawatt wind turbines of 10 MW and above.

　　Henrik Stiesdal, an expert on offshore wind power at the Global Wind Energy Council, predicts that the next-generation offshore wind turbine is expected to have a single-unit capacity of 20 MW and a rotor diameter of 275 meters
.
At the same time, the report predicts that offshore wind farms with a unit capacity of 17 MW and a rotor diameter of more than 250 meters are expected to be officially put into use around 2035.
Once reached, the cost of offshore wind power will further decrease
.

　　However, Henrik Stiesdal also pointed out that offshore wind turbine technology is still facing development bottlenecks.
The existing offshore wind power supply chain, insufficient infrastructure, shortage of raw materials, and shortcomings in logistics and transportation may limit the development of offshore wind turbine technology
.

　　Existing plans are difficult to meet the demand for carbon reduction

　　According to the report, under the existing offshore wind power policy framework of various countries, the world will add 235 million kilowatts of offshore wind power installed capacity in the next 10 years, which is equivalent to more than seven times the existing scale
.
Compared with the report released by the agency last year, this forecast raised the installed capacity forecast for the next ten years by 15%
.

　　Although the scale of offshore wind power installed capacity is growing at a considerable rate, the report also pointed out that the current growth rate is still difficult to meet the established climate goals
.

　　According to the latest calculations issued by the International Energy Agency and the International Renewable Energy Agency, if the global temperature rise is to be controlled within 1.
5°C, global offshore wind power installations need to reach 2 billion kilowatts by 2050.
However, according to the Global Wind Energy Council’s It is estimated that the current global installed capacity is less than 2% of this target, and even by 2030, the global offshore wind power forecasted installed capacity can only reach 13% of this target
.

　　To this end, the Global Wind Energy Council called on the global offshore wind power installed capacity to maintain a steady growth momentum in the past year, but countries still need to more actively promote the development of offshore wind power to help achieve carbon emission reduction goals
.

　　Marc Becker, CEO of Siemens Gamesa's Renewable Energy Offshore Business Unit, suggested that whether it is a mature or emerging offshore wind power market, clearer policy guidance and regulatory frameworks for the offshore wind power industry are needed.
Governments should cooperate with the industry to reduce offshore wind power projects.
At the same time, mature markets should share more practical experience and lessons to help emerging markets establish a reasonable and optimal offshore wind power market mechanism
.

　　The report also emphasized that in order to achieve the zero-carbon goal, governments of all countries need to improve the policy environment for the development of the offshore wind power industry, simplify the planning and approval process, create a good market environment, and increase investment in related infrastructure such as power grids
.
(Reporter Li Limin)

　　Transfer from: China Energy News