UK leads EU offshore wind power capacity

Recent statistics for 2015 are indicating an annual market growth of 44% and record installations of more than 51 gigawatts of wind energy. Results obtained from a study compiled by the Global Wind Energy Council shows that China will continue its lead with 45% of the total annual market, Africa and Latin America will continue to emerge, while Europe will face a slight downturn.

With the largest offshore wind capacity in Europe, the UK is the current leader with 55% of all installations, taking the throne from the previous market leaders, Denmark with 15.8% of all installations and Germany with 13%. Belgium is fourth on the list, followed by the Netherlands with 3.1%, Sweden with 2.6% and Finland with 0.3% – according to research by the GreenMatch industry analyst.

The UK continues to lead the market with as much capacity installed as the rest of the countries combined. In fact, out of 17 offshore wind farms, 10 of them were installed in the UK. Five offshore wind stations – Methild Demo, West of Duddon Sands, Gwynt y Môr, Westermost Rough and Humber Gateway are responsible for total annual market of 813 MW.

 At the moment, the UK is the leading country with 55.9% of all installed offshore wind capacity in Europe and is track to secure 15% of its total energy from renewable sources by 2020. Moreover, the UK reached its new monthly record, with 14% of all UK’s electricity generated by wind power, beating the previous record of 13% set in 2013.

Currently, wind generation is supported in two ways: with the financial support provided by the Renewable Obligation for the projects larger than 5 MW and the feed-in tariff aimed at the smaller projects. The feed-in-tariff is beneficial for renewables suitable for domestic, business or agricultural use. The rate of provided support is measured according to technology and size.