Offshore wind in Europe saw a record 3,148 megawatts (MW) of net additional installed capacity in 2017 corresponding to 560 new offshore wind turbines across 17 wind farms, WindEurope said on Tuesday.
According to WindEurope's recently released report - Offshore Wind in Europe Key Trends and Statistics 2017, this record represents twice as much as 2016 and 4 percent higher than the previous record in 2015.
Installations have now been made and grid-connected, making a cumulative total of 15,780 MW. This corresponds to 4,149 grid-connected wind turbines across 11 countries.
The year 2017 also saw Final Investment Decisions (FID) made on six new offshore wind projects, which are to be installed in the coming years. These new investments total €7.5 billion and cover 2.5 GW of capacity.
The report underlined that a total of 623 new turbines were erected in 2017, but 11 turbines were decommissioned in Denmark, resulting in a net addition of 612 turbines.
Furthermore, 82 turbines, equivalent to 1,927 MW, are awaiting grid connection.
'Fourteen projects have been completed, including the first floating offshore wind farm. Work is ongoing on a further 11 projects in Germany and the U.K.,' the report said.
- Future expectations on offshore wind
The report underlined that investments in the offshore wind sector are expected to top €9 billion by the end of 2018.
The report predicts that by 2019, Europe will see another record capacity of offshore wind power connected to the grid. This is mainly due to the delay of consenting Round 3 projects in the U.K. in 2016.
Currently 400 MW in construction in the U.K. are set to be grid connected throughout 2018.
'Germany will connect turbines from the Merkur and Borkum Riffgrund projects in 2018 too. Belgium will connect turbines in Rentel and Norther wind farms also,' WindEurope said.
The successful projects from recent tenders held in Denmark and the Netherlands will start to connect capacity towards the end of 2018
By Gulsen Cagatay
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr