With the addition of 2,918 megawatts (MW) of new wind capacity in Europe last year, the continent reached 25 gigawatts (GW) of installed offshore wind energy capacity by the end of 2020, according to WindEurope's report released on Monday.
In the Offshore Wind in Europe - Key Trends and Statistics 2020 report, the Netherlands added the largest capacity with 1,493 MW last year.
The country connected almost half of all the capacity to the grid by connecting most of the turbines at Borssele 1-5 sites.
Belgium followed with 706 MW, and it also set a national installation record with Seamade becoming its largest operational wind farm with 487 MW.
The UK installed 483 MW of capacity last year, while Germany installed 219 MW and Portugal added 17 MW of new capacity to the grid.
"The European grid saw 356 offshore wind turbines connected across nine wind farms in 2020," the report said.
In addition to installations, Europe hit a financing record for new projects worth €26.3 billion with 7.1 GW of new capacity in France, the Netherlands, Germany and the UK.
"The two largest wind farms - Hollandse Kust Zuid 1-4 with 1.5 GW and Dogger Bank A and B totaling 2.4 GW - together raised over €15 billion in capital," the report said, adding that the UK and Germany overall attracted the most investments in the last decade.
€1 equals $1.20 on Monday at 1127 GMT.
By Gulsen Cagatay
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr