THE FUTURE OF OFFSHORE WIND GENERATION

Wind capacity additions should consistently exceed those of the previous decade until 2050. By then, solar and wind power will become the main providers of power generation, and in many cases also be complementary for each other in hybrid power plants where wind will deliver the main generation at night whereas solar will deliver during the day. The pace of expansion will be highest for fixed and floating offshore wind as they start from a lower base. It is expected that advances in wind turbine technology, the economies of scale stimulating further industrialization of the industry, and smarter technologies and operations will further reduce the levelized cost of energy and cut installation time, making offshore wind more and more attractive for investment. For floating wind, this decade will see rapid progress from demonstration projects to commercial-scale deployments. This means that, by 2050, floating offshore wind projects could have 255GW of installed capacity: more than a fifth of the offshore wind market. Offshore wind will generate almost 9% of electricity globally by 2050, compared with 0.3% today.