The Promise of Offshore Wind

The world’s first offshore wind farm began operating off the coast of Denmark in 1991. During the following three decades, 12 European countries installed more than 28,000 MW of offshore wind generating capacity, enough to meet the electricity needs of almost 30 million households in the UK and Germany. Cost reductions driven by these early investments, coupled with increased commitments to reduce carbon emissions, have given rise to substantial offshore wind development efforts in other regions, especially in Asian and US waters.  

The success of the first generation of offshore wind farms, sited in shallow waters where turbines can be mounted on bottom-fixed foundations, spurred investment in floating wind technology, designed to harness wind resources at favorable sites with water depths greater than 60 meters. The first floating turbine began producing power off Norway in 2009. The first array of floating turbines started operating off the Scottish Coast in 2017. Based on falling costs and abundant siting possibilities, experts project that floating wind will account for a growing proportion of new installations in the coming decades.

In US waters, as in most territorial waters around the world, deep water sites account for a significant portion of developable offshore wind resources. The Biden Administration has set a target of 15,000 MW of US floating offshore wind capacity by 2035.