2011 offshore wind installations of about 1000 MW represented
approximately 2.5% of the annual market, according to GWEC's
figures. More than 90% of the world’s offshore wind power is
currently installed off northern Europe. Most of the rest is
accounted for by two ‘demonstration’ projects off China’s east
coast. The UK is maintaining its position as world leader in
offshore wind. In fact, the UK already gets close to 2% of its
net electricity consumption from offshore wind, and this is set
to grow to 17-20% in 10 years’ time. However, GWEC notes that
it’s an exciting new technology and a new business, and
governments and companies in Japan, Korea, the United States,
Canada and even India have shown great interest. By 2020 GWEC
believes it will have a much better picture of offshore wind’s
long term prospects outside of northern Europe and China. This
article is an excerpt from the feature Wind power – emerging
markets drive growth published in the July/August issue of
Reinforced Plastics magazine.